View source for Submissions:2023/Save the time of the reader: improve your technical documentation through minimalist design

{{WCNA 2023 Session Submission
|theme=Technology
|type=Workshop
|abstract=Ranganathan's fourth law of library science, "Save the time of the reader," describes how guides and frameworks that benefit library users also benefit librarians and other maintainers of information systems<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_laws_of_library_science</ref>.  The laws of library science apply to technical documentation! In this workshop, participants will learn how to apply minimalist information design principles<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism_(technical_communication)</ref> to save the time of readers, while also making it easier to maintain documentation in our shared technical ecosystem.  

Proposed workshop structure: 

# Introduce basic information design principles from library science and instructional design.
# Teach participants how to apply minimalist design principles to improve existing technical documentation.  
# Lead supported editing time and coordinate hands-on, collaborative practice revising documents on our technical wikis ([http://www.Mediawiki.org mediawiki.org], [http://www.wikitech.org wikitech.org]).

After the brief introduction and instruction sections, participants will choose a technical document to improve.  Then, we'll work synchronously and share ideas as we explore how minimalism can help us be strategic about revising docs to improve their usability and readability.  Specifically, our revisions will focus on how to save the time of our readers (and future editors) by:

* Identifying and focusing on the reader's goals and tasks
* Creating strong "information scent"<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_foraging</ref> through document structure and writing style
* Identifying and removing superfluous text
* Grouping information into modular, task-focused units

While the focus of this workshop will be on technical documentation, the principles are widely applicable to many types of written communication.  Participants are welcome to edit any wikis or documents, but the content used for instruction and the suggested pages to edit will all be from Wikimedia technical wikis.
|author=Tricia Burmeister
|email=tburmeister{{@}}wikimedia.org
|username=TBurmeister_(WMF)
|affiliates=Wikimedia Foundation
|time=75
|size=10-20
|presented=I presented about writing & maintaining technical documentation as a community at the 2022 Wikimedia Hackathon [<nowiki/>[[:File:Tricia Burmeister - Documentation to Conquer the Dungeon - Wikimedia Hackathon 2022.pdf|slides]]]. In my professional capacity as a technical writer, I've presented on information design and task-oriented documentation in various forums and settings, usually to technical audiences at engineering team events or developer summits.
|livestream=Yes, you may livestream my session
|present-other=Yes
}}