RE: Usability Professionals and Technical Communicators

Subject: RE: Usability Professionals and Technical Communicators
From: "Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
To: "'Dori Green'" <dgreen -at- associatedbrands -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:23:05 -0800

> From: Dori Green

> I suspect that my gripe is not with usability professionals
> individually
> or as a group, but with company management that does _not_ employ them
> and instead foists the job off onto the nearest unsuspecting technical
> writer. Of course they don't include any details such as training or
> salary commensurate with the additional service. And they usually
> resist/refuse any suggestions for improvement.

I think that the same thing said of using technical writers as usability
experts can be said of using technical writers as business analysts. I have
had a few contracts that wound up being business analysis positions, but
with the pay of a technical writer. "We need you to 'document,' but first
you will need to analyze what we do so you can document it." So you need an
analyst and you don't want to pay for one? That aggravates me, so now I'm a
business analyst because that's what a lot of my jobs have turned into.

> Could there be more than one category of Usability
> Professional?

Isn't there more than one category of Technical Communicator? And more than
one category of Project Manager? I'm starting to think, after this current
discussion, that "Usability Professional" is emerging as a new arena to fill
a gap between good product concepts and usable products. A great idea is
not valuable if the customer cannot use it and no amount of documentation,
management, or planning will improve or develop usability. Asking the
managers, planners, and communicators to develop usability will create some
burdens that detract from the contributions made by those resources. So as
technology expands, new areas of expertise emerge.

Lauren

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RE: Usability Professionals and Technical Communicators: From: Dori Green

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