Human Factors for Technical Communicators

A crash course in human factors theory and practice for technicalcommunicators

If you're a technical writer, technical editor, documentationmanager, user-interface designer, usability tester, or any othertype of technical communication professional, you've probably foundyourself becoming more and more involved in the development,design, and testing of technical communication products. In orderto handle your expanded responsibilities effectively you need asolid grounding in human factors, the art and science of designingfor people. And now this book gives it to you--fast.

First, expert Marlana Coe takes you on a fascinating tour of theburgeoning science of human factors. In terms that you canunderstand, she explains all about the psychology and physiology ofhow users access, learn, and remember information; the impact ofcolors, shapes, and patterns; learning styles; approaches andobstacles to problem solving; action structures; and more. And,with the help of real-life examples of various technicalcommunication products, she vividly demonstrates what works, whatdoesn't, and why.

Then, she shows you how to apply what you've learned to create thebest technical communication products possible. You'll find out howto:
* Analyze users' needs and learning styles
* Get and interpret user feedback and create partnerships withusers
* Select the most effective layouts, colors, fonts, and graphics
* Build better navigational infrastructures
* Develop content that gives users everything they need to quicklyidentify and resolve problems
* Test and improve your product's usability