I’d Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson

Usability SIG Newsletter interview

I was recently interviewed by David Dick for the Usability SIG newsletter. The title of the interview is “I’d Rather Be Writing – The Man Behind the Words.” Check it out.

They also reprinted my post on Customizing Sharepoint, which has gotten more hits than I ever imagined.

Last night my oldest daughter (who is seven years old) finally learned to ride a bike. After a few painful crashes learning the traditional way (where you just receive a push and try to go), Jane read a tip on one of her mommy blogs about a new method to teach children to ride a bike:

1. Remove both pedals from the bike.
2. Lower the seat all the way.
3. Let the child scoot along with the bike using her feet for as long as she wants. This helps the child learn to balance and feel comfortable on the bike.
4. When the child asks for the pedals (my daughter asked for the pedals after two days), reattach them and raise the seat again.
5. Now give the child a little push and off she goes. Read the rest of this entry »

After a topic title in your help, what do you write? Do you jump straight into the numbered steps, or do you explain why a user would likely perform the topic?

Although I practice the latter (adding explanatory text before the steps), I recently read an article by Mike Hughes that convinced me readers rarely read text that appears before a numbered list. Read the rest of this entry »

I was digging into some SharePoint books on Safari online tonight, and I noticed something incredibly cool. While I’m reading a page of a book, there’s a section at the bottom called “Additional Reading.” Based on keyword/topic matches, it pulls similar content from other chapters of other books in the Safari library.

It’s not just showing me related books for my topic, but is showing me related chapters from other books. I ended up not just reading one book, but reading similar chapters of about 5 different books tonight. This integration breaks down the silos between books and seems to create one seamless library of information. All I can say is, this is totally awesome.

Download MP3 (right-click, select Save Target As)
Duration: 30 min.

In this podcast, I talk with Theresa Putkey, a usability consultant in Vancouver, about how she transitioned from technical writing into usability. This is part II of the previous conversation with Theresa.

Learn more about Theresa by reading her blog. You can also read Theresa’s articles on Boxes and Arrows. Read the rest of this entry »