Customer experience and product instructions (part 1)
At this point, most products that do the same thing do the same thing. For example, most cell phones do the same stuff. Most cell phone companies do the same stuff. Most products are commodities, in that they all do the same stuff. So how do we as business people differentiate our products? How do we make the case that dealing with us is better than dealing with our competition? Customer Experience This is where the rather new field of customer experience comes in. From the Customer Experience Professionals site (of which I’m a member):...
read moreThe cost of developing content (part 6)
In previous articles, I talked about the costs of creating content in Word, in unstructured Frame or InDesign, the cost reductions in topic-based authoring, and the costs of localization using each tool. I’ve also covered the costs of purchasing and implementing these tools. Change management Douglas Adams said: “Change is good. You go first.” Change management is one of the tougher parts of this process. The business case is clear, the money saved and the cost avoided is clear. What’s murky is how to change the...
read morePerceived quality of product instructions
On a lark, I ran a poll asking what people thought of either the product instructions they use or they create. I’m curious if there is a difference. I asked both groups to select from the same keywords – 5 of which seemed negative and 5 seemed positive to me. I asked each group to chose 5 that resonate. There results are in. With 182 total responding, we see (click the pictures to see them larger): Consumers Consumers (n=77) chose helpful, incomplete, confusing, accurate, and logical as the top 5 words that apply to product...
read moreIt’s opinion poll time again
You may recall that I ran an opinion poll about this time last year to find out how people feel about product instructions. The results from that poll are available here. It’s time to do it again. This year, I’ve added 3 questions all around the cost of a product and expectations about product instructions. My gut tells me that the more you pay for a product, the more you expect the product instructions to be clear and helpful. That’s my hypothesis and I’m interested in how the results hold out. Go take the poll So, to...
read moreCooperation and trust: When success overwhelms you
Recently, I was the victim of success and having friends has made all the difference. Here’s what happened In early January 2013, I set up a webinar for 5 Feb 2013 about communication tricks that will make your message more powerful. I’ll cover about 10 things that can just make your communication clear and to make it pop, regardless of the communication method. I set up the email in my ConstantContact account and sent it out to my contacts. And I went about my day. Within 3 days, I had over 300 signups. With just over 3 weeks...
read moreGetting control over your content
The last week of the year is time for me to clean out my home office. Over the course of the year, it becomes a mess. I have stuff I thought I needed (that I don’t), stuff I thought I needed (that I do), and general leftovers from projects, teaching, students, and all the other things I do all year long. By the end of the year, there is barely room for me! So, the annual purge starts. Do your content and processes look like this? Your content and processes are similar to my office, except they don’t get cleaned out once a year....
read moreBusiness issues – predicting the cost of content
I’m interested in the business issues around creating content. I find those problems the most interesting to think about, to identify, and to solve. It’s an intersection between my background as a technical writer, a business owner, and my graduate anthropology work. Towards that end, I’ve been thinking about how do we know it’s time to invest in a new tools/new processes? How do we know that’s coming and when will it happen? When does it make sense financially to start looking for new tools and processes? Is...
read moreHappenings in December and January
Usually, things are quiet in December and January, but not this year! Webinar: Dec 11 2012 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern The Past, Present & Future of Webinar Metrics: 6 KPIs to Measure ‘Tis the season for Dickens: let’s take a look at webinar metrics of the past, present and future. Modern marketers are becoming more and more sophisticated – and so are the webinars we are launching. As our webinars become more advanced, the metrics we measure must evolve as well. Relying solely on webinar registration and attendance rates to measure...
read moreDon’t be helpless
This one isn’t about me. It’s about being a difference in the world. When a disaster happens, it’s easy to be pulled into a feeling of helplessness. But the truth is, every one of us lives in a place where disasters can happen. And we can help. I live in Southern California, for example, where we know earthquakes are going to happen. My son lives in the US Midwest, where flooding and giant snow/ice storms happen (the stuff that drive geographically distant moms crazy, by the way). If you don’t live in the US Northeast,...
read moreUpcoming events
The last few years, I’ve been so buried with work, I’ve not gone to as many conferences as I would like. But I always make time for LavaCon. This year, it’s in Portland, October 7-9! Why Lavacon? I’ve gone to Lavacon for years. I think it’s one of the best conferences because it’s targeted for the more experienced people in the industry. That means you are going to learn something, hear best practices from people who have been in the trenches for some time, and generally have a great time. At the end of the...
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