Category Archives: work

Quick Usability Testing

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At work, I was asked to create a map to guide our clients to specific workstations that have Kurzweil optical character recognition (OCR) software. Students use the OCR reader to scan in documents and use the computer read the text for them. Given the task, it had to be simple to read and understand quickly by anyone who doesn’t know where the workstations are at.

Kurzweil Location - SRC 120

Location for Kurzweil Software

Kurzweil Location - SRC 2nd Floor

Location for Kurzweil Software

When I finished drafting up a couple of maps, I surveyed two of my co-workers. I picked two people who have a wide varying degree of knowledge with regard to locations on campus. It was smart for me to pick  two individuals, one who is unfamiliar with the area and another who knows exactly where to go.

My first tester was one of our student workers in the department. Since she is a freshman and new to our community college, she was very useful to develop my maps to help our clients who may be unfamiliar with campus. The second person I tested the maps with was one of our department secretaries. I included one our secretaries in my quick usability testing because they are very familiar with campus and they can add details that I may miss that could be important.

My results were positive. Both testers quickly understood the map for SRC 120; however, they had difficulty understanding the SRC 2nd Floor map. The problem with the 2nd Floor map is the complicated layout of the area and my map made it look far less complex. For example, each of those ovals has 6 computer workstations. Out of 72 computers, there is only one machine that has Kurzweil. I quickly added a few more details to the map, such as desks and rooms to make it easier to read.

The take-away from my task was that it’s important to test users who have different kinds of knowledge about their surroundings. While I understand these maps are very rudimentary, my usability testing helped improve the maps for a specific audience. When you don’t have much time to test a final product, finding two individuals from the office works very well.

Control your social network

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Recent headlines of Twitter Scandal 2011 shouldn’t stop everyone from using social networking responsibly. As for what happened to NY Rep. Weiner, it is a perfect example of what NOT to do on social networking sites especially if you are well known. Even if you are only known online by your friends and professional colleagues, it is important to take steps to control your social network.

  1. Check your privacy settings
    • almost all social networking sites have settings that you can enable to include or exclude from your posts for the rest of the world to see
  2. Ask your friends to look out for you
    • sometimes it takes a really great friend to point out that you have a run away zombie profile (remember those spam and phishing messages you get?)
  3. Google yourself
    • Search for your name and any keywords that you are associated with. There is more than one Roger Renteria out there on the internet, but I am more closely associated with Roger Renteria STC. I am ME, right?
  4. Clean up your profile
    • Most of us may know to avoid posting party photos, but you can clean up your profile. Potential clients and employers can use the internet to find more about you.

Posts stay forever. What you delete from the internet can’t be guaranteed that they will be expunged from other computers.

One last tidbit to remember–mom, dad, and grandma are also on Facebook.

Failbook - Grammar Momzi

Failbook - Grammar Momzi

TC at work daily

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The two part-time positions that I currently work at don’t necessarily incorporate technical communication, but for some reason when I live, breathe, and speak TC, I can’t help but apply it in situations where my job description doesn’t require it.

When I’m working my regular annual job at the community college, I take notes for a specific department. I would not imagine that TC would creep into the workplace, but I use it daily. When I take notes, I write clearly for a specific audience and learning level. My other tasks while at work include ghostwriting, editing, reviewing, and public relations. I can’t help not utilizing my skills while on the job, even when they are not required for the position that I hold.

My other job is working at a worldwide non-profit. My goal while I’m working there is to help proofread their paperwork and their training materials. When attending training sessions, I couldn’t help but markup the handouts with my edits. What stood out the most were the spelling instances of than/then and ensure/insure. I’m positive that I can help my employer improve their documents so they look professional for future readers.

Besides using TC at work, I speak about my background and let others know what I do as a technical communicator. When I entered into the field of TC nearly seven years ago, I had trouble explaining what a TCer does. I believe, lately people are understanding what my profession is about and see the need for one.