Chapters 12 and 13

Chapter 12 focuses on the idea that merely presenting information to an audience does not guarantee that they will value it, understand it, or use it effectively.  One example the chapter uses is the common marketing mantra of “if you build it, they will come.”  Though revolutionary ideas sometimes make companies runaway profits (Apple and its pioneering of the IPod is an example that comes to mind), many products that are simply “built” certainly don’t attract the attention they seek – especially it is not built with the user in mind. The chapter presents some heuristics on how to assess “artifacts” and their usability to audiences, and also discusses how to rank if “artifacts represent acceptable quality...” using a scale of 1-5, with 1 representing a “minimal error” and 5 representing a “catastrophic error.”  One element I found interesting within the chapter was the emphasis on “appropriate sampling methods and sample sizes,” quoting work from one of my former Technical Communication professors, Dr. Amy Koerber.

Chapter 13 delves into project management within the field of technical communication.  The chapter highlights the importance of flowcharts that include “project phases of planning,” “research,” “information gathering,” and “revision,” among others.  Further, the chapter highlights the importance of time management.  Just as any businessperson knows that a project without a timeline is destined to fail, a company’s reliance on its technical communication team is certainly likely to be time-sensitive and require deadlines with updates at certain stages in the development process.  The chapter closes with a statistic that reinforces its overall theme – “technical communicators spend only 20-30% of their time writing.”  Accordingly, the vast majority of their time is dedicated to the development process associated with projects, so project management and time management are becoming increasingly vital.