Technical Communication in a Digital World

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Technical Communication in a Digital World

• Chapter 5
• Beep Beep Valet

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Communicating in Digital Space

• Digital communication is an essential component
  in todays modern world
• But is it always the solution? Overload can be an
  issue among others
• When used correctly, digital elements serve as an
  imperative factor for communicating efficiently

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Designing Information for the New Media

• New Media the combination of characteristics
  of many traditional media types. Ex Manuals-
  CD-ROMS, prints newspaper- television news,
  books- ebooks kindle 2
• Designing this new media becomes crucial factor
  in becoming an effective communication
  specialists

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Writing Issues

• Audience consideration
• Impatient Readers
• Chunking
• Nonlinear Readers
• Hypertext format
• Diverse Readers
• Provide links
• Provide feedback area
• Write short sentences

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Design Issues

• Using hypertext markup language or HTML
• Organization
• The cant find it problem
• Typography
• Trying to predict typefaces on a printed screen
• Line Length
• Chunking
• Appearance
• Visual appeal

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Examples
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Examples
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Examples
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Examples
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Technical Issues

• Accessibility
• Computer use of majority
• File formats
• Compatibility
• Functionality

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Online Documentation and Interface Design

• Saves money and time
• Context-sensitive
• List all tasks like an index

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E-Mail

• An attractive option in the workplace
• Asynchronicity
• Electronic Paper Trail
• Easy Forwarding
• Attachments

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When Emailing Consider This

• Is it better to communicate the info. orally or
  in writing?
• What is the potential reach and speed of the
  info?
• Have you given yourself ample time to respond
  calmly?
• Is it ok to bypass the company hierarchy?
• Are you allowing both men and women an equal
  voice?

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Blogs

• Forums are designed to make it easy for people to
  share information and opinions online day to day.
• Blogs are inexpensive,
• efficient and user- friendly
• Can support proposals,
• annual reports, and
• promotional literature etc.

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Creating Your Own Blog
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Instant Messaging

• Faster than Email
• Allows conversation in real- time
• Group discussions from various locations
• According to Fortune Magazine Instant messaging
  is rising fast in corporate America, rapidly
  displacing email for routine communication
• does not automatically save these documents but
  as it becomes more and more popular tool in the
  work place it will most likely become monitored

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Telecommuting and Virtual Teams

• Working from home
• Collaborating from
• remote locations
• Online education

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Quick Checklist

• Content
• Is your information Chunked?
• Are your sentences short?
• Design
• Is the color appropriate?
• Is it organized top-down?
• Technical Features and Usability
• Are all links correct?
• Has the site been tested to ensure functionality?
• Email Conventions
• Have the rules of netiquette been observed?