The never-ending debate: DITA or…?

Lisa MAUCHOSSÉ, Tasmiya NOOR-MOHAMMED, Alima SANOGO

Paris Cité University, July 2023

Abstract

The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), introduced in 2001 at
IBM and launched to the public in 2005, has set new standards in technical
documentation practices, meeting the needs of both companies and technical
writers. Nonetheless, as the field of technical writing has evolved over the last
two decades, it is essential to assess whether DITA continues to live up to its
reputation as a universal solution in the face of the emergence of other
solutions.
To get to the bottom of this, we conducted a survey among 34 technical
writers around the world. The aim of our research is to analyze the current
relevance of DITA in modern technical documentation practices, examining its
advantages and limitations, and exploring alternative solutions. The article
looks at important considerations for the adoption of DITA, such as content
strategy, cost analysis, and tool selection. In addition, it addresses the growing
popularity of alternative solutions such as Markdown, which offer simplicity
and ease of implementation.

Read the full article in PDF: The never-ending debate: DITA or …?

Videos and minimalism, a conflict in technical writing

R. BUKALA, C. FERRO, F. VINGTROIS

Paris Cité University, July 2023

Abstract

Throughout our technical writing courses, we learned that we must
implement a minimalist approach to our writing. Technical documentation
must be straight to the point, simplify access to information, and filter out
any unnecessary details. Minimalism in technical writing has been clearly
defined since the 1980s. This definition and the advice on minimalist
practices leave out visual elements such as illustrations and videos even
though videos are becoming ever more present in technical documentation.
Thus, we decided to make the distinction between written and visual
minimalism. As visual minimalism stems from minimalism, we can define it
as simplifying technical documentation by cutting off all unnecessary visual
content.

Through this research article, we wished to study how visual minimalism
and videos are used in technical documentation. Specifically, we wondered
how technical writers perceived the use of videos in the context of visual
minimalism.

As technical communicators can work on a large variety of projects, we
wanted to reach as many professionals in technical communication as
possible to ask their opinions on the matter. Are videos and minimalist
documentation compatible?

Read the full article in PDF: Videos and minimalism, a conflict in technical writing

Can Technical Communicators Benefit from AI Text Generators?

Evan MARION, Louis DUCHAILLE, Mafalda DA COSTA

Paris Cité University, July 17 2023

Abstract

ChatGPT changed (almost) everyone’s lives this year, we all started to
worry about our future and wonder if AI could replace us in a few years.
With this article research, we wanted to see how technical communicators can
use these new tools for their benefit instead of being fearful of their future.
This paper is based on a survey of 46 professionals, with more than 50% with
jobs related to the technical communication field. The respondents were
asked about their knowledge and their use of AI text generators.

The results allowed us to determine the benefits and the limits of AI text
generators for technical communicators. Our study suggests that quite a few
professionals already use AI tools to help them gain time and be more
efficient. Technical communicators often use them for proofreading,
rewriting sentences and translation.
Although AI text generators are becoming more and more popular among
professionals, they still have a lot to prove…

Read the full article in PDF: Can Technical Communicators Benefit from AI Text Generators

Université Paris Cité partners with Adobe for technical communication training

At Université Paris Cité university, Bachelor and Master technical communication students are trained on technical communication standards, structured authoring methodology, structured languages and content transformation (XML, DITA, XSL…), using leading authoring tools.
Through practical hands-on workshops and projects, led by techcom professionals, students learn how to use the most recognized and renowned authoring tools, thus offering them a diverse set of skills highly appreciated by future employers.
Thanks to the Adobe University Outreach partnership, our students now have access to the Technical Communication Suite free of charge, for the duration of the academic year, giving them access to the most recent versions of FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and Captivate. This is a real plus for this training curriculum that attracts each year more and more candidates, whose high marketability confirms how adequate the learning curriculum is to the needs of future employers.

Adobe logo

 

Alternatives to PDF in Technical Documentation

BISSA Corinne, BORDELAIS Anthony, HERIBI Kenz

Paris Cité University, July 2022

Abstract

Technical documentation has become an outstanding resource in the IT industry and the last decades have witnessed a boom of high-performance technical authoring tools.
Despite the multitude of innovative technical writing tools, it has been observed that the dominant output format remains the PDF file, invented in the 1990s.
In the sight of this sluggishness as far as innovative end-user technical documentation is concerned, questions arise: Why has the PDF output survived for so long and what justifies its supremacy over other formats? Another question is, can disruptive innovations be implemented on end-user technical documentation so as to bring about more sophisticated or user-centered output formats?
By discussing with subject matter experts, we are seeking answers to these questions. We are also seeking to explore to what extent modern technologies like virtual reality, artificial intelligence devices among other alternative formats are applicable to end-user technical documentation.

Read the full article in PDF: Alternatives to PDF in Technical Documentation

The limits of video implementation in technical communication

Jordan Bernardi, Thomas Jarillon, François D’araujo

Paris Diderot University – 07/18/2021

Abstract

Technical communication follows the perpetual advances in technological trends. It leverages every tool at its disposal to efficiently develop and propose the most relevant technical content to reach its critical target audience. Videos constitute a highly effective medium for capturing and conveying a wide array of information to achieve this goal. The immediacy brought by videos as well as the comprehensive sensory experience they propose are tributes to their demonstrative strength. But if videos constitute such a powerful tool, why are they not used everywhere in technical communication?
This research article examines the pertinence of videos in technical communication by exposing their potential limitations according to several criteria: People in charge, univocal set of best practices, narrative aspect, and comparison with written documentation.
Reviewing generic existing literature on the subject of videos constituted the first step of this study.
A survey and a heuristic evaluation were then conducted to analyze and assess the position of videos in the technical communication landscape while exploring the different limitations to video implementation in this specific framework.
The results gathered through the heuristic evaluation and the survey effectively completed the bibliography by providing more recent data on this rapidly evolving medium. These served in identifying some of the current practices and limitations that we can observe in today’s technical communication environment.
Although videos are recognized as a real added value to software documentation, they have limitations that all have a common denominator: Lack of time. While one of the biggest challenges of technical writing is to best reflect the products being described, written documentation still seems to be the only one to predominate due to its unmatched ability to be quickly updated.

Read the full article in PDF: The limits of video implementation in technical communication

The influences of content structuration

ALVES MENDES Ines, BAEK Chooeun, CHALLET Leslie

Paris Diderot University, July 15, 2020

Abstract

Structuring content is the cornerstone of great documentation. Structuration ensures not only coherence across content, but also better user experience. How does structuration occur? We conducted a survey searching for internal and external factors influencing structuration. The investigation revealed that internal factors including tools, languages, standards, and guidelines are the basis of well-structured documentation. External factors, such as user- feedback, and a UX team within the company, also prove to be equally important. Structuration also improves with updates from the right people and for the right reasons. In this research article, we discuss content structuration, restructuration, and how it is heavily influenced by various factors independent from content.

Read the full article in PDF: The influences of content structuration

The added value of videos in technical writing

Claudia ANTHONYPILLAI, Laura BARIBAUD, Louise CLAUSTRAT

Paris Diderot University, July 15, 2019

Abstract

Videos play an important role in our lives, as well as in the daily lives of technical writers. Technical documentation has evolved throughout time and beyond written text, with multiple tools to choose from. This makes us wonder, to what extent is the introduction of videos in technical writing necessary?

Our research article seeks to answer this question, presenting the results of different tests and questionnaires. We will be able to determine how a user reacts to different sources of information, as well as how user experience affects the way a technical writer produces documentation.

Users have different learning styles, one can be verbal and the other visual, and a technical writer should keep that in mind when producing documents. Since everyone is different, having a video as a source helps and includes more people. However videos can be restricting depending on the situations.

Just like user needs, technical writing evolves, and so does technology. With the introduction of various forms of videos and the ability to integrate them in multiple platforms, a technical document can become more than just a traditional user guide. GIFs, chatbots and AI-powered applications are bringing new life to technical writing. Nevertheless, is video still really worth it?

Read the full article

The added value of videos in technical writing (PDF)

Determining whether DITA is good for you

C. Canart, M. Garnier, H. Morceau

Paris Diderot University, August 30th 2019

Abstract

Since it was released to the public in 2005, DITA has been adopted by an increasing   number of firms, and it has become one of the most popular standards for technical    documentation. The DITA standard was designed with the intent to meet the needs of   any firm and is sometimes thought of as a universal solution, but is this truly the case?   When considering a DITA implementation, one should make sure that DITA is really suited   to their particular situation and needs, and that it can be implemented successfully within   the company. In this paper, we tried to understand how one can determine whether DITA   is the right solution for their company before taking the leap and undertaking a content   migration. For the purpose of this paper, we gathered data through a survey aimed at both   DITA and non-DITA users, a review of existing resources, and several interviews of DITA   experts and representatives of technical writing solution firms. Whether DITA is right for a   company doesn’t seem to be wholly dependant on the size of the company, as one might   think at first, but has more to do with the technical know-how of the personnel and the   budget allocated to the documentation team.

Read the full article

Determining whether DITA is good for you (PDF)

Augmented and Virtual Reality: Towards the Enhancement of User Experience

Marie Fabre, Samia Rhaliès, Florian Peeter

Université de Paris, July 2019

Abstract

Our world is increasingly virtual. Digitalization has been taking over every industry during the last few decades, and user experience and assistance is no exception. Reality and the virtual world were divided by a gap that seemed unbridgeable until recently. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) allow users to go beyond previous limitations. Users can learn and practice without being held back by the limitations of the real world.

AR and VR are not brand-new inventions. The praise they received the last few years is related to recent technical innovations such as advances in computational power, storage, graphics, and high-definition displays. These progresses opened the way to immersive technologies that were previously burdened with wires, heavy headsets, and poor graphics. Today, light, wireless hardware, and beautiful graphics immerse the user in a virtual world better than before. But innovation won’t stop there, as it is expected that $20,4 billion will be invested in AR and VR, an 68% increase 68% compared to the $12,1 billion spent in 2018. This growing interest for AR and VR is shared by a wide range of industries such as engineering, medicine, and even softwares.

Each finds its own in immersive reality. How do companies use AR and VR? To what extent do they enhance the User Experience? Are they the future of the user assistance, or just trendy gadgets?

After considering what are AR and VR and their usages, we will discuss their influence on User Experience (UX), their values, and what their future may be in the technical communication industry.

Read the full article

Augmented and virtual reality: Towards the enhancement of user experience (PDF)

Chatbots and technical communication: a blooming future?

Salomé FOEHN, Sulaxana RAMACHCHANDRAN, William MOHAMMED

Paris Diderot University, July 2018

Abstract

Machine-learning is gaining momentum as an artificial intelligence (AI) technology. There has been a recent upsurge in text-based conversational interfaces such as Facebook Messenger, IBM’s Watson and SAP’s Recast.AI. This type of computer programme is called a chatbot, which is the focus of this study. In this paper, the non-customer-oriented applications of chatbots and the evolution of professional practices of technical writers were investigated. The main research question is “will chatbots impact the technical communication industry in the middle term, and in what ways?”. We mainly used a SNCF case and a comprehensive comparison of job offers to illustrate our claim. As the authors expected, chatbots will not replace technical writers but will, instead, oversee the birth of a broad range of thought-after, more specialized jobs at the interface between computer science and technical communication.

Read the full article (PDF):

How shifting to a more modern documentation process helps meet user needs

ANDRIAMANANTSOA Ornella, BENZAAMA Loubna, LEONARD Lucie, RESPLENDINO Emmanuelle

Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7, July 2018

Abstract

Digitalization and technological innovations are exerting considerable impact today on technical documentation. In addition, we are seeing more and more collaboration between technical writers and software developers, which naturally is leading to a synchronous code and documentation production evolution.
The research offered herein is based on literature, key articles, survey reports, interviews with documentation and product managers from medium to large French software companies, and analysis of various documentation production process. The results highlight the importance given to documentation and its scope towards users.
To meet the needs of the industry, historical formats such as wikis and PDFs are changing to web-based and embedded formats, which are more accessible, visual, and user-centric. This change not only affects outputs, but also production processes through the merging the product code and documentation delivery. Nonetheless, such innovation is costly and bears limits. Are such technological exploits as smart assistants and virtual reality going to perform well enough to meet users’ demands and needs in terms of documentation?

Read the full article (PDF):

Technical innovation: what impact on quality in technical writing?

Deepa HANS, Cécile LEANG, Anne RIVIÈRE
Paris Diderot University, July 2017

Abstract

Nowadays, innovation is considered as a race for companies. Companies need to win this race in order to stay ahead of the game. In this frantic pursuit of innovation, it is important to keep in mind that innovation for innovation’s sake is pointless. To bring value to companies, innovation must lead to quality improvement and cost reduction. Like any other profession, technical writers are compelled to innovate in order to stay relevant. The most obvious expression of innovation lies in the introduction of new tools in the documentation process.
This article explores the impact of technical innovation on the documentation process and product. To be valuable, technical innovation needs to enhance the quality of the process or the product. This article aims at answering the following question: to what extent does technical innovation impact the quality of the documentation process and product? To a lesser extent, we also analyze the role of innovation-driven companies in fostering innovation for technical writers.
In addition to reading articles on innovation, quality and the relationship between the two, we also carried out a survey aimed at technical writers. From the results, we found out that while technical innovation improves both the documentation process and product, the most significant impact may actually come from rethinking information flows and team organization.

Read the full article (PDF): Technical innovation: what impact on quality in technical writing?

CDMM Research: A seminar with Ray Gallon and Andy McDonald

Ray Gallon and Andy McDonald are leading professors and experts, with multiple-decade experience in the fields of technical communication and information. In 2016, they joined forces to create a consortium, aiming to promote “information 4.0”, a reading grid to the accelerating evolution of information.

Students of CDMM Master 2 have been familiarized with Ray and Andy’s presentations at Paris’ 2017 Documation Data Intelligence Forum, and they met again on May 31st, to discuss information 4.0 and elaborate around it, in the context of their technical communication, information architecture and content management program.

CDMM: What is information 4.0?

Ray Gallon and Andy McDonald: Our research revolves around the general theoretical question of the role of information in the context of technological progress.

On a practical level, information 4.0 aims at ensuring we take this evolution into account.

In other words, it provides help to anticipate the evolution of the technical communication industry, and it outlines reasons why this industry needs to evolve.

For example, software developers think around functions or groups of functions, while users are concerned only with the tasks they have to carry out. The role of technical communicators can therefore be broadly described as translating an approach by function into a logic of tasks: it is obviously much wider than designing user manuals.

Information 4.0 also takes into account and capitalizes on the rapid growth of chatbots, augmented reality (AR) devices and applications, the Internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Is AI truly intelligent?

As of today, even the most powerful AI, such as the ones that beat chess or go masters, only simulate intelligence: they do not begin to approach consciousness, which is a prerequisite to “human-style” intelligence.

Current AI can accumulate data and use it in the most relevant way, in relation to a particular task or series of tasks, however complex, but they cannot learn: they are not able to perform a task they have not been designed to perform, nor to take initiative outside of their functional envelopes.

However, AI is already very useful, notably to carry out repetitive actions, better than humans – for a cost that is quickly soaring.

What are the risks of AI?

The main risk of AI is for humans to give up control over tedious and recurring tasks, without a possibility to go back – just because we might soon forget how to perform them. In general terms, AI obviously raises numerous governance, interoperability, and ethical issues. To maintain control over AI, its very concept and the questions it poses must be well understood, and the aim of each AI solution has to be precisely defined. For example, don’t pretend you are trying to build an intelligent city if what you are actually working on is a bandwidth wide enough to accommodate three interoperating networks…

How do you see technical writing evolving?

It is evolving quickly and deeply, around the issues we have already been talking about, which will become ever more present.

The emergence of the agile method of code maintenance is a good example of ongoing changes: pseudo-real time adaptation is an actual goal for many companies. Information is becoming obsolete much faster already, which emphasizes the need for contextualization and interactivity, notably with regards to the development of IoT and machine-to-machine communication.

In the span of five to ten years, from writing instructions, procedures or manuals, the role of the technical writer will continue to evolve towards information retrieval, sorting, filtering and distribution, in relevance to the needs of the target audience. As very important vectors of information, you need to embrace this evolution to prepare for it.

You have been stressing the need for information contextualization. Can you elaborate on this?

Context is key, indeed. Information is only valid in a certain context, and contexts change in an increasingly fast manner. Hence, in some companies, personas are designed, only to be used for a single hour. Other contexts are already tracked and even materialized by RFID beacons, which directly link information to its potential user; the aim is to offer information, rather than deliver it.

Imagine you are in Cairo. Your need for information will change considerably, depending on the fact you are a tourist, a local, or an Egyptologist. Ideally, offered contextualized information addresses your specific needs – which raise the issue of context granularity, a whole other challenge in itself.

In that respect, adopting the molecular information approach we are advocating with our information 4.0 logic can be helpful.

What is molecular information?

We believe breaking down information into molecules facilitates information reuse.

Molecules of information are autonomous, self-sufficient, fundamental blocks of content. In that logic, the sense and nature of a document depends on the way its information molecules are assembled.

However, just like in the field of chemistry, in that of information, mixing molecules can carry surprising outcomes. It can even be dangerous. That is why information molecules need to be precisely organized, defined, and tagged to ensure their sensible use and to avoid meaningless or erroneous documentation.

Bearing this paramount rule in mind, information molecules can prove a powerful tool in tackling the issues of contextualization and context granularity. Molecules can indeed be used in a great variety of contexts, providing they are governed by a clear and precise editorial policy.

As a summary, what is your vision of the current work of a corporate information specialist?

In a context where, as we saw, the value of information becomes increasingly doubtful, an information specialist’s main task is definitely to maintain and increase the value of the company’s information base.

Information is, indeed, one of the most precious intangible assets of any company. It needs to be retrievable, organized and up to date.

Information specialists therefore have to force their way into scrum and marketing meetings, for example: wherever they are located in the organization chart, they literally stand at the center of any firm that values its history, its products and services, and its customers.

Finally, information specialists need to adapt to the idea of a world where, in the foreseeable future, software will be able to read users’ facial expressions, and to respond to them.