Podcast: What Is the Technical Writer's Role in Interface Design? Interview with Bogo Vatovec
Download MP3 (to download, right-click and select Save Target As)
Duration: 38 min.
In this podcast, I interview Bogo Vatovec, an expert in change management, user experience, and knowledge engineering, about the technical writer's role in interface design. Specifically, we cover the following in the podcast:
- What the technical writer's role should be in the company
- Why the technical writer's skills are often "accepted but not respected"
- Why a technical writer needs to do more than just what he or she is told
- What the technical writer's role is in relation to design and usability
- The importance of spinning your criticisms of prototypes in positive ways
- How early the technical writer should get involved with a project
- The semantics and implications of names ("technical writer" versus "information designer")
- How the role of an information designer differs from the role of a technical writer
- Why changing the name from "writer" to some other title isn't enough
- Why writing skills are a declining value
- What happens when writers do more
Bogo is a senior member of the STC and a regular presenter at conferences worldwide. For example, at the last STC Summit, Bogo participated in a panel on career trends.
For more information on Bogo Vatovec, see his site at bovacon.com.
