Incorporating
Visual Communication
in Technical Documentation
for Usability!
Visual Communication
WRITING
Making the Strange FAMILIAR
VISUAL THINKING
Visual Communication
“transcends the border between print and digital texts”
“MULTILITERACIES”
VISUAL
VERBAL
VISUALVERBAL
“Word and Image”
“the intimate interplay of words and images”
VISUAL
VERBAL
“dominated by visual rather thanoral or textual media”
LANGUAGES
LITERACIES
MULTILITERATE COMMUNICATORS
assume greater responsibility for DESIGN
“a foundation in the visual”
VISUAL LITERACY
“eyesight is a visual language”
IS NOT INTUITIVE
LEARNED
AND
PRACTICED
“LEXICENTRIC world view”
“We think in ways we have learned to TALK”
“Most of our students have learned to talk—as we have—
in verbal language,
not in visual language, and,
in turn,
they think verbally,
not visually”
MULTIPLE MODES OF THOUGHT
MULTIPLE MODES OF THOUGHT
OVERLAPS
“DISTINCT
cognitive modes that are interconnected and comparable in their
complexity”
Scott McCloud
a language
ALL ITS OWN
to HUMANIZE the process
USABILITY
“the combination of narrative,
character,
and graphic design helps communicate
a complicated subject
in a way that is
compelling and
easy to understand.”
“helped people understand them and
resulted in a more concise
communication of the concepts”
TOO LONG?
“comic art is a serious subject for information developers”
engaged with product-related information
“we should look to the comic as
an opportunity
that we can no longer ignore”
“Short two-to-three-minute video tutorials can be
your most powerful form of documentation.”
VISUALLY LITERATE
previously not the responsibility of the tech writer
“we can no longer consider [them] to be readers
in the traditional sense of the word”
USERS
VISUAL LITERACY
not the exclusive reserve of artists
USER RESEARCH
Localization!
Further Reading
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Johnson, Tom.I'd Rather Be Writinghttp://idratherbewriting.com
UXmatterswww.uxmatters.com
Kimball, Miles A., and Ann R. Hawkins.Document Design: A Guide for Technical Communicators
McCloud, Scott.Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright.Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture