Minimalist documentation Archives

Catégorie : Minimalist documentation

Migrating to DITA : skip & clean…but keep the Shortdescription!

DITA Migration is like house removal: you’d better get rid of the unecessary stuff and clean your files BEFORE you move on. Don’t hesitate to skip and clean! Following this rule, a 2014 DITA Europe Conference participant who wanted to reduce the volume of her documentation decided to skip all Short Descriptions… Not only was… Lire la suite …

Minimalism vs brevity

In its online courses, STC is offering a certification in minimalism writing which is introduced as follows: « Session 1: What is Minimalism? Minimalist writing isn’t just deleting content, it is writing to deliver a lot of value in as few words as possible. It is the conjunction between clarity and brevity. » What do we mean… Lire la suite …

IoT messages for Sergio and David

In his article Smart factories require smart documentation, Alexander Hoffmann states: « Connected Things will dominate the Internet, the cities and our lives…The Internet of Things is growing exponentially… 26 billion Things will be connected by 2020… » Which impact on our technical writer’s job? « Thus, there is a growing demand for digital manuals that are displayed… Lire la suite …

Mr Agile cooperating with Ms minimalism…

Are you planning to join an « Agile » team of developers? Any idea about the challenges when dealing with « Sprint », « User stories », « Scrum » ? Our colleague Paul Coinaud -experienced « agile » technical author- agreed to share his know-how with us. Let me tell you a (user) story… Content management professionals’ daily activities are often constrained by the… Lire la suite …

Minimalism vs. Information Mapping: what’s the best choice ?

Back to the sources In an article dated April 2008, Bob Doyle provides a quasi-exhaustive recap about the different methods of document design. Information Mapping (R) was developed in mid-60’s by Robert Horn who identified 7 common »Information types » of a structured document: classification, concept, principle, procedure, process, structure, and fact. Structured authoring Information Mapping is… Lire la suite …

Minimalist documentation : is this workshop for you?

Is your management asking you to reduce documentation costs? Do you create information that few customers use? Do you have fewer people to create and maintain the volume of information you’ve created in the past? Are you pursuing content management and structured writing? ______________________________________________________________________ Attending a « minimalism » workshop If your answers are… Lire la suite …

Minimalism authoring: some resources

“The essence of the minimalist approach is to obstruct as little as possible the learner’s selfinitiated efforts to find meaning in the activities of learning.” (John M. Carroll) Basics by John M. Carroll and Hans van der Meij Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel First Minimalist Manual Minimalism principles Applications An application of the Principles of Minimalism… Lire la suite …