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Although technical communicators are a diverse group, and our beliefs and practices span a spectrum, we share certain common beliefs and practices about our field.
In this Section |
To effectively practice in this field, you need to understand the principles of a variety of fields. Among the many fields that contribute to technical communication are:
| Rhetoric | The craft of prose that is persuasive to readers. Academically, technical communication emerges from the field of rhetoric, which is ironic, because many people believe that technical communication is objective and strives not to be persuasive (Hamilton, 1996). In practice, communicating scientific and technical information requires excellent persuasive skills because, in many instances, users have to overcome emotional and intellectual barriers to see how the information can benefit them. |
| Business Management | The science of how businesses operate. We apply the principles of business management on many levels. Because many of the users we serve apply the information we design and develop in business contexts, our understanding of business management helps us identify the most appropriate applications of the information. Because technical communication is a service to businesses, our understanding of business management helps us better meet the needs of our clients and better manage our own projects and market our services. When we identify job 1 during a needs analysis, we apply the principles of business management. |
| Composition Theory | The science of how people compose prose. By understanding how people compose, we can learn to work most efficiently. When we write sections out of order, we apply lessons learned from the research into composition theory. |
| Cognitive Psychology | The science of the human information processing system: that is, how humans acquire, process, and store information. By understanding how humans process information, we can design communication products so that they make most effective and efficient use of this system. Tools such as effective page design and advance organizers are applications of cognitive psychology and related research into reading. |
| Human Factors | The science of how humans and machines interact with one another. Technical communicators employ the principles of human factors when assisting in the design of computer interfaces and other equipment, and in the way we integrate our information with products. |
| Instructional Technology | The hardware, software, and "thinkware" of teaching. Technical communicators often employ the communications technology mastered by instructional technologists and apply teaching theories, such as learning styles and principles of adult learning. Techniques such as tying new information to information that users already know and the use of computer systems to create tutorials represent applications of instructional technology. |
| Linguistics | The science of language development. Because new technology usually brings with it new terminology, technical communicators often play the role of language cops. By applying the principles of linguistics, we help introduce terms in grammatically sensible ways. The debate over the use of words like input and network as English verbs represent linguistic issues. |
| Sociology | The science of cultures. Because technical communicators often transfer information from one culture to another, the better we can learn how to learn about other cultures, the more quickly we can understand the cultures between which we are exchanging information and meet the communication needs of both. We apply the principles of sociology when we localize communication products for users in another country and tailor communication products for a particular company. |
| Systems Theory | The science of how systems work. We apply this knowledge in many ways. Much of the technical information we communicate pertains to systems of one sort or another, such as computer systems, defense systems, and telecommunications systems. Systems theory also applies to human interactions, such as project management. Tools such as project management systems represent applications of systems theory. |
| Transfer of Technology | The science of how people adopt and adapt to technology. We apply the principles of technology transfer when we consider not only what the new technology is, but how people will react to is. |
In addition, technical communicators need a basic grounding in the theories underlying the subject matter they communicate. For example, technical communicators working in the medical and healthcare fields need a strong background in biology, anatomy, and chemistry. Technical communicators working in the computer field need a strong background in subjects such as the structure of operating systems, database management systems, object oriented programming, and data communications. Technical communicators working in the banking field need a strong background in finance and banking law.
The Guidelines for Document Designers, published by the Document Design Center of the American Institutes for Research, identify many of the beliefs that technical communicators hold about information, all of which have been communicated in this book. We usually communicate these principles as instructions for good technical writing, such as write in short sentences, write in the active voice, use headings, use white space, and use illustrations.
New communication technologies increase opportunities to share information. Always looking for newer, more effective ways of delivering technical information to users, technical communicators have pioneered many communication technologies. We were among the first to widely adopt desktop publishing and move online.
Technical information should be communicated honestly. Technical communicators have a high sense of ethics and professionalism about our work. We believe that we should represent our organizations honestly, without distorting facts and using hyperbole to make our point.
Technical communicators do more than write manuals. Through their focus on the users of information and through the process of learning about products, services, policies, and other technical information, technical communicators act as "therapists" of sorts on projects: identifying potential problems will impede users’ ability to apply information and suggesting solutions to these design problems. As a result, many technical communicators believe that they should design and develop any aspect of a product that users directly interact with, such as the icons, menus and messages displayed by computer software and the tops of buttons and keys on hardware.
Several issues dominate the formal discussions of technical communicators, as evidenced in the literature on the field presented in journals and at conferences. Some of these issues pertain to theory, others to professional practice, and, finally, others to the nature of the profession. The issues relate directly to the beliefs of the profession.
The Society for Technical Communication approved a research agenda that identifies of most interest to the profession as a whole and that is intended to guide future research and developments in the field. Following is the description of these issues from the STC (1996):
| Job Skills and Knowledge | What makes a technical communicator--and differentiates one from other types of communicators, such as marketing communicators, employee communicators, and technical trainers? What skills and knowledge do all technical communicators need? What unique skills and knowledge do people need to succeed in a specialty area? To assume more responsible positions? |
| Audience Analysis and Understanding | The research of Ginny Redish and her colleagues and of Carnegie Mellon's Communications Design Center has only begun to help us understand the audiences for the manuals and online systems that we produce. As media continue to broaden our conceptions of technical communication, so too will our definition of audience need refinement. How will the audiences of such media change in their tastes and expectations? How do we extend our understanding of users, usability, customers, their primary tasks and work processes, reading processes, etc., in natural settings? What issues arise with the use of distributed systems, e.g., educational, gender-related, ethical and political, and in terms of information ownership? |
| Designing New Documentation Processes | What are the effects of new documentation paradigms, for example structured documentation, object-oriented, single-sourced, and downsized documentation, affecting the technical communication process. How might distributed documentation teams work more effectively together? What are the implications of freelancing, consulting, vending, and contract structures on the documentation process? |
| Designing for Visualization | Few guidelines exist for making decisions about when to use text, when to use visuals, and how to integrate the two, especially given rhetorical complexities of context, content, medium, multiple audiences, purposes, organization, and so on. How do technical communicators handle "non-textual" elements? What is the role of multimedia design and the integration of text, graphics, animation, sound, etc., on information design? How will a profession of text producers fare in an information society of picture users? |
| Information Dissemination Tools | What are the issues surrounding the use of the Internet and World-Wide Web, as well as the exponential increase in information browsing tools such as Mosaic and Netscape, on information that technical communicators produce? How can technical communicators better prepare themselves to produce scripts, screenplays, video excerpts, etc., as part of their job requirements? |
| Collaboration and Team-Based Projects | Studies of face-to-face collaboration and computer-mediated collaboration (e.g., via news groups, listservs, MOOs, e-mail, focus groups, etc.) have a great deal to teach us about how technical communicators work with each other, with experts, with other corporate divisions, and with management. At the moment, the popularity of groupware is being embraced as one solution, often without realizing that adopting particular groupware means adopting the cultural assumptions on which the groupware is built. How can experts from once disparate fields (e.g., instructional design, computer science, graphic design, ergonomics) better work with technical communicators? How might distributed companies and writing teams meet the demands of a global marketplace? |
| Hardcopy and Online Evaluation | Existing taxonomies for the evaluation of hardcopy and online "texts" require extension to account for the explosion in platforms currently available to technical communicators. Many of the evaluations of existing documents and online support systems are too frequently anecdotal or expert-based, rather than empirical or quantitative (metrics that managers and applications developers find very persuasive). What methods of evaluation will support the design of usable, persuasive, comprehensive, and easily maintainable information? How can these evaluation methods be better integrated into our on-going design efforts? |
| Settings for Writing and Internationalization | Since the mid-eighties, few researchers have examined writing as it is carried out in different settings, corporations, divisions, and countries. Given the number of multinational companies, international workers, the global economy, and the multi-million dollar potential of world information sharing and dissemination, we have a critical need for research that examines these emerging writing situations. How do technical communicators plan, design, and evaluate texts for translation? How do fundamental differences in ideas of persuasion, organization, stance visa-a-visa an audience affect the communication of technical information across national/cultural boundaries? How can ethnographies of different settings for writing enrich our understanding of technical communication? |
| Professional, Social, and Environmental Trends | Having transformed our professional standing, in some cases, from that of administrative assistants and "writers" to information developers and technical communication specialists, we are now faced with the challenge of new genres and writing situations that demand our expertise. We are now being asked to write for ever-widening audiences types (in terms of gender and globalization, for example) and across numerous rhetorical situations. We are being asked to write risk assessment documents, public policy, environmental preservation and enhancement statements, press releases, magazine articles, science and technology writing, and so on. What is the role of the profession in these developing areas? How does what we know about instructional documentation translate to these different genres and audiences? How do emerging social, political, and ethical priorities shape what and how we are expected to communicate into the next century? |
| Research Models for Technical Communication | What becomes increasingly clear as we outline the nine research areas/issues above, is that technical communication researchers desperately need more research on research. How do we better bridge the gap between practitioners (corporations) and researchers/teachers (universities)? What sorts of rewards do we need to build into the academy to encourage researchers to collaborate with industry? What sorts of rewards do we need to build into industry to encourage research-based practices? How to we establish "hybrids" of quantitative and qualitative designs--statistical overviews with illustrative cases? Should we design intermediary publications for the dissemination of pure research to practicing technical communicators? How do we strengthen the relationship between pure and applied research? |
In addition, certification is an issue among technical communicators. Some technical communicators feel that they would have a higher status in organizations and be able to ensure higher work standards by certifying our skills. As this book is being written, STC is preparing a study to determine whether a market exists for certification and, if so, what would need to be certified. As STC grapples with this issue, other professional organizations for professional communicators have begun offering certification programs, including the International Association of Business Communicators, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Biology Editors of the Life Sciences (an organization formed by the Council of Biology Editors to offer certification).
Some technical communicators also seek certification for their technical skills. For example, some technical communicators seek certification of their advanced technical skills with software, such as authoring software, networking software, and operating systems. Other technical communicators seek certification in knowledge of a certain industry, such as banking and financial planning.
In addition to issues in practice, technical communicators are concerned about the following issues.
Other objections to the name come result from the term "technical." To some, the term connotes technician and is a misnomer. Furthermore, few people actually have the job title "technical communicator." The most common job title is technical writer/editor.
As a result, a rising chorus of people object to the name technical communicator (me included).
Some of this value (or lack thereof) is reflected in a feeling that these jobs lack sufficient significance. Yet a 1995 survey by Money magazine concluded that technical communication is among the 20 best professions and Working Woman magazine cites technical communication as one of the best fields for women.
Perhaps you should consider this issue within a larger framework. People working in the many professions that provide services in the communication and information fields share the same concern. Trainers, for example, believe that they are among an underclass in corporate America and marketing communicators often feel left out of key decisions. And perhaps this is because "some human capabilities resist codification¾ intuition, insight, creativity, judgment, ability to select relevant information, recognize patterns, interpret and decipher"(Stevens, 1996, p.7) and these are the precise skills that we bring to corporations. Organizations may intuitively value these skills, but have difficulty expressing this value in tangible ways.
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(c) Copyright. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. Saul Carliner. All rights reserved.
