Faculty and Staff

This course focuses on the development of documentation for international audiences. Students will learn to address the challenges of communicating across cultures; they will learn to prepare documentation for translation and to create visuals for global audiences. Upon completion of the course students will have gained valuable skills, experience, and knowledge. The course objectives are:

·         To develop an understanding of the challenges of international technical communication and learn key strategies to address those challenges

·         To learn theories of intercultural communication and to understand their application in the workplace

·         To learn to write for international audiences

·         To learn to create visuals for international audiences

·         To design and produce a documentation project

·         To learn to prepare documentation for translation

·         To develop project management skills

·         To meet the challenges of working as part of a team

Visual Technical Communication focuses on the analysis, creation, and editing of graphics in technical documents. By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Build your confidence reading and analyzing, from both a content and design perspective, the visual information included in complex technical and scientific documents.
• Critique existing tables and figures with a focus on theoretical or ethical issues in visual information design that may inhibit the reader’s comprehension of information or may present that information in intentionally deceptive ways.
• Work with datasets to present information clearly and concisely, identifying the desired visual narrative and highlighting pertinent supporting information for the intended audience.
• Learn to use design software and create tables and figures that are both usable and visually pleasing.

This course is an introduction to writing and designing different kinds of online help files, help systems, and tutorials with a focus on the theory and practice of designing interactive products. Students will study tutorials, procedures, and reference guides. The major focus will be on designing an interactive tutorial from a task-oriented point of view.

The course has two overarching goals:

1. To explore and critique the modes of interactivity best suited to procedural software documentation and the relationship between designers and users.
2. To develop a practical framework for designing products that follow task-oriented writing principles while incorporating interactive and human-centered design elements.

ENC 6297 covers all aspects of the production of technical documents including typography, visual rhetoric, layout and design, and planning and managing publication projects. Students will learn about international issues in document design and production and will gain experience in usability testing and quality metrics. Students will work on real-world projects and will also conduct research on production and publication methods.