Advanced Technical Writing 2008

1. Advanced Technical Writing2008

2. Today in class • Presentation guidelines • Ideas for displaying data

3. Non-negotiable requirements • No more than 10 minutes • Address library staff as your primary audience, not me • Main purpose of session is to solicit feedback (no feedback = bad presentation) • Must use powerpoint (can also use other visual aids too); post slides to project page early enough for me to link to them • Bring a backup on a removable storage device of some type

4. The genre: a “walkthrough” • Walk your audience through the current scenario, highlighting problems • Walk them through the transformed scenario, highlighting how you plan to addressed the problems • Pause along the way to let people ask questions or give responses

5. Current & Transformed Activities • Remember that what you have to offer here is a perspective the library lacks: a students’ eye view of the actual activities going on; this is valuable! Very valuable! • When you talk about transformed scenarios…talk about activities (not simply the systems, technologies, or regulations that are involved). • Think current activity, transformed activity - this puts the information model into motion • Our main activity: search; most of our presentations will take perspectives on search activities of one sort or another

6. Evidence, evidence, evidence! You should be very, very focused on presenting evidence to back up: • You description of the current scenario • Your description of problems with the current scenario • Your vision of the transformed scenario • Your solutions to the problems in the current scenario

7. Sample structure (6 slides) Current scenario, described or illustrated in some way Problems in current scenario, sorted by priority Description of analytic steps you took Transformed scenario, described or illustrated Problems in current scenario, how they are addressed Work remaining, unanswered questions Slide 1: Slide 2: Slide 3: Slide 4: Slide 5: Slide 6: Of course, introduce yourselves too. The above is not the only possibility. Six slides is not a magic number. But 10 minutes goes by quickly…especially if you pause for questions/comments after slide 2 & 5.

8. Mention your research Talk about your work on this project as a process of inquiry: • Frame issues as questions: “we wondered…what happens after I submit a suggestion to the suggestion box?” • Mention your research methods, but briefly: “to find out the answer to this question, we first talked to…” • Use the data you gather in your genre analysis, content audit, UI analysis, workflow analysis, etc. to back up claims

9. Rhetoric works!Use stasis questions Building a strong case for your claims means answering these: • Is there a problem [how do we know?] • What type of problem is it? [what makes us think so?] • How severe is this problem? [who does it impact and how?]

10. For your Transformed Scenario… You should probably focus on a single perspective for fixing the problem: • Choose between “genres & features, objects and views, or production model and workflows” • If you present more than one of these, do so as as a transition to one of the other teams • Use the same visuals you did to help them visualize the information model in part 1…just changed a bit to reflect the recommended change (e.g. a streamlined swimlane)

11. Plan…really plan…for interaction Build in at least two moments where you prompt the audience to respond to specific questions or ideas: • Do not say “any questions?” at the end • Tell them what you want to know, and then be prepared to listen and capture it • Let them comment on important things - they will value your end result more if you do

12. Plan…really plan…for interaction If you need follow-up feedback, give them something to take away • A handout is good for review later • E-mail can work too • But make sure you establish what you want and when you would like to have it • Make it easy on them

13. What do you, Bill the teacher, want to see? Here’s what makes me happy: • You impressing them, not me, with your insights. • You being well-prepared, so that your presentation is smooth and doesn’t sound like “an assignment” • You using evidence - if you do nothing else, do this - to back up your claims. • Your audience responding with questions, comments, etc. That’s how you know you succeed.

14. Any Questions? Just kidding. :)

15. Seeing an Information Model Seeing… Genres & Features = seeing “habitual responses to recurrent situations” Objects, Views, & Relationships = seeing “what information users need, when and where they need it” Production Models & Workflows = “managed and ad-hoc work patterns”

16. Information Models are Living Things! Static representations of information structures (e.g. a tree diagram) usually cannot tell the stories that information models are really made up of…instead try • Narrating & visualizing use cases (remember your UI analysis?) • Showing “paths” through information structures (tree diagrams could be basis for this) • Showing actors & resources in task/time matrices

17. Visualizing Use Cases Like a documentary film Need to decide on P.O.V. of the “camera” (choose an actor in the system like a user or an artifact before a third-party observer view) 3. Show “scenes” from typical, mission-critical processes 4. Show “critical incidents” that illustrate common problems or the potential for them 5. Use same P.O.V. & scenes to try out transformed scenarios

18. Paths through information Start with any representation of information structure (e.g. an outline, a site map, a hierarchical tree diagram, even a document) Select a user, task, and situation to illustrate Highlight the “path” a user must take through the information structure to complete the task Show faulty paths or problems that arise Point out missing elements that cause confusion, needless circling back, etc. Show us a better path

19. Time/Task matrices Best tool to show how multiple actors interact within a system tasks time

20. Update time: • Describe your request for a meeting and/or materials from the library • What are your 1-3 specific questions? • Describe how you will use the 4 analytic tools • What data do you hope to gather for each? • What does each help you address in your guiding questions? • When/where/how?

21. Next Week • More about Project 3 • Another practice exam question