Technical communication futurist by Scott Abel

The Technical Communication

Futurist
aka Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

5

Revolutionary Technologies

Technical Communicators

Can’t Afford To Ignore

Sunday, October 20, 13

#cmworld

scott abel

@scottabel
scott@thecontentwrangler.com

thecontentwrangler.com
@scottabel #AdobeDay @LavaCon

about me

content strategist
conference organizer
faculty at Berkeley iSchool
columnist EContent Magazine
frequent presenter at industry events

www.intelligentcontentconference.com


out this January from XML Press


before we start

a caveat
all of these topics deserve their own presentation

this is just the tip of the iceberg

the problem
technical communicators

are overwhelmed

and unprepared


the problem

many of us treat
the world wide web

like the Ohio web
or the American English web

that needs to change

we need to

change


the problem

technology
is accelerating

faster than we are


the problem

new devices
and new markets
and new demands

the problem

outdated notions

of success


the solution

new approaches
new responsibilities
new roles and new tools

the solution

precision
fueled by math and science


what is

technology?

technology is the purposeful

application of scientiﬁc
knowledge in the design, production,
and utilization of goods and services


what technologies

can we not afford to ignore ?

I ll provide a basic overview of each and some key points for pondering


#1

automated
translation


aka

machine

translation


some know it as

google translate


but it s much more

than that

what is

automated
translation
?

automated translation is

a process that uses
software to translate

content from one

language to another


?

why

do we need to know this

#cmworld


the world wide web
[not the American English web]

is the land of opportunity


in a global market
reaching customers
previously viewed as
out of scope is the goal

Source: US Small Business Administration

96%
of the consumers on Earth

do not live in the US

but they all
speak English, right ?


wrong!

Source: Nationalencyklopedin

less than 6%
of the world s population
speak English well enough
to understand your prose
and techcomm mumbo-jumbo

Source: Wikipedia

many people who
understand spoken English

cannot read English
in fact, many cannot read at all

human translation
can be time-consuming and

expensive
many languages aren t supported due to lack of resources

Source: Ethnologue

especially when you consider that

there are over 6,000

languages spoken
by the people of Earth

?

how
do we get started


#cmworld

recognize that today you write

for both humans

and machines
our content must be both human- and machine-processable to have maximum ROI


recognize that today you write

ﬁrst for machines

then for humans
if content is not ﬁndable (by machine) or accessible (by machine) it doesn t exist


of course the content you create

is destined for humans

but machines are
gatekeepers to success

recognize that writing rules

were developed
long before technology

made instant global
communication possible

recognize that writing rules
you learned in grade school

Language Arts classes
are no longer sufﬁcient

for a world in which
Language Science is needed

examine your content from

the vantage point of a
rules processing engine
and ensure it is optimized

for machine translation
some do this today by making content conform to XML speciﬁcations

#2

automated

transcription


what is

automated

transcription
?


automated transcription is

a process that uses
software to translate

speech to text

for many of the same
reasons automated translation
is needed AND the fact that video
content is not keyword searchable

without a transcription

the content locked inside
of video is hidden from view

• CRM
• integration
• personalize

use one of several
software providers

to create transcriptions
for your videos and post them

along with your videos
check out: koemei.com

transcription ﬁles
can also be translated

and the translations used
as sub-titles in other languages


#3

terminology

management

what is

terminology

management?

terminology management
is the process of controlling
the words you use by organizing

them in a central repository
that contains a list of approved
terms and rules for their usage

the goal of terminology
management is to ensure that

the words that are most
closely associated with your
products, services, and branding

are used consistently

efforts result in a controlled

vocabulary that is made
accessible to all who need it

across your organization
as well as partners and service providers


helps ensure consistency
throughout your content assets

in both your source
and you translated content

can help ensure legal and
regulatory compliance, brand
consistency, enhanced content quality


seek guidance from a
global content strategist
to help you craft a terminology management strategy

and look for opportunities
to standardize your content creation processes


adopt a terminology
management system

check out: acrolinx.com

#4

adaptive

content


what is

adaptive

content

?


adaptive content is
content that is structured

and designed adapt to
the needs of your customer


adaptive content changes

not just cosmetically,
but also in substance

and in capability

adaptive content also adapts

to the capabilities of the

device it is viewed on
automatically, on-demand
if a GPS is available on a handheld device, the content will be able
to take advantage of location aware features of the device


for example, an instruction

like click on a laptop
would be automatically
adapted to touch on a
smartphone and say in

an automobile GPS

customers demand
exceptional experiences;
their expectations have changed

and they expect you to
change and adapt to their needs

responsive design

is insufﬁcient

responsive designers
are the new webmasters
(and we all know what happened to them)


adaptive content
makes it possible for you to
publish to multiple-platforms

and to multiple-devices
̶ often, automatically

adaptive content
is consistently structured,

providing a predictable

customer experience

adaptive content
is content separated from

formatting information;
allowing authors to focus

on what they do best

adaptive content

makes your content
ﬁndable and reusable
by others who need it

adaptive content
involves rethinking
how you create, manage
and deliver content; it s best
to seek advice from an experienced pro

there is no EASY button;

moving to adaptive
content involves work,
but the pay-off (ROI) can
often be realized in months, not years

#5

component
content management


what is

component
content management
?

component content management

is the creation, administration,
organization and governance

of small, discrete, re-usable

components of content
xml structured content is key


focuses on the storing of
content components that
are used to assemble documents

component content management systems are designed for this purpose

come in various sizes and
types and can be as small
as a single word or as large as

many paragraphs
they can be recombined/remixed to create new deliverables


can take the form of
graphics, hyperlinks or
other repurposable content
your company logo, product description, value proposition, beneﬁts


is about managing content

not about managing ﬁles

content versus ﬁles

content

ﬁles

date(s)
time(s)
topic(s)/title(s)
description(s)
keywords
presenter name(s)
presenter bio(s)
sponsor name(s)
sponsorship level(s)
directions
price(s)
link

email invite
printed invite
registration microsite
printed program
at-event signage
voicemail script
telephone script
advertising
contract
tweet/update
blog post
mobile app


content

usage

date(s)
time(s)
topic(s)/title(s)
description(s)
keywords
presenter name(s)
presenter bio(s)
sponsor name(s)
sponsorship level(s)
directions
price(s)
link

same
same
same
same
same
n/a
n/a
same
varies (gold, silver, bronze)
varies (deliveries)
varies (gold, silver, bronze)
same


structured content
combined with CCMS
supports personalized
content and targeted marketing,

increasing response rates

structured content
combined with CCMS
puts you in control of
your content and can help you

save BIG $ on translation

because not all prospects

or customers
are the same

you need component
content management

if you need to...

provide different types
of content to different
types of prospects and customers


re-use content across

documents without
copying and pasting
the copy>paste reuse method is the most costly and error-prone

ensure content is
consistent across all
touch points, channels, and devices

single-sourcing: write it once, use it often is a best practice

translate content

once and have it
automatically reﬂected

wherever it is reused
translation savings alone can often provide return on investment

publish to multiple

output formats

without the need for
manual intervention

formatting content for multi-channel output occurs automatically

involve a variety of
people in the creation,
management and delivery
of content to those who need it
component content management systems are designed for this task


seek guidance from a

content strategist
who understands both content and technology


implement a component

management system

check out: astoriasoftware.com

wait, there s
much more!

look out for...

wireless
electricity


look out for...

ﬂexible

surfaces


look out for...

wearable
computing


look out for...

augmented

reality


ﬁnal

thoughts

to mature as a discipline
we need content craftspeople,

content designers and

content engineers

to help us shape, reﬁne
and grow digital content

in order to create

compelling content
experiences, we ll have

to leverage both
content AND code

and, we ll have to
start thinking more
like engineers and less
like writers and editors

Technical communication futurist by Scott Abel

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