Why user documentation should be tested and how to do it

Everyone knows that it is important to test software so that you find any bugs before it goes out to customers. The majority of organisations that develop software have people who spend at least some of the time doing testing their software. Many may also do ‘user acceptance’ testing to check that the software meets [...]

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Working group 2 standards adopted by IEEE

This week two of the standards produced by working group 2, software and systems documentation, have been formally adopted by the IEEE and released as IEEE standards. The two standards are 26514 (Requirements for Designers and Developers of User Documentation) and my standard 26513 (Requirements for Testers and Reviewers of User Documentation). Best to visit [...]

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ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7 Plenary 2010 – Niigata, Japan

I’ve just returned from the latest SC7 Plenary meeting in Niigata in Japan. As usual we had a good meeting, although we were shorter on experts than usual, and this meant that the discussion was probably less than it would usually be for our standards work. However, to make up for this, we did have [...]

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Press release on my standard on testing and reviewing user documentation

I’ve just found this press release about my published international standard: IS0 26513 Systems and software engineering – Requirements for testers and reviewers of user documentation. It’s good to see press releases about standards to help our users find standards relevant to their business. The article also mentions the other standards that we are currently developing in [...]

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Usability research

I have some exciting news. I’ve accepted an offer from Southampton University to do a part-time PhD with them, starting in October. The exact topic is to be finalized, but it will be around the area of improving the usability and accessibility of complex technical information, particularly for dyslexic users. I’m very excited about this [...]

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User documentation in an agile environment

I’m currently working on a draft for a proposed new standard on developing user documentation in an agile environment. There is a lot of information out there about agile software development, but most of it is focused towards code developers, and possibly project managers. What I have noticed is there is very little advice out [...]

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Making information technology accessible to people with disabilities

This is the writeup for the presentation: Making information technology accessible to people with disabilities given at Southampton University March 2009. These views are entirely my own and do not represent those of the IBM corporation. It is important for anyone who is developing software or IT services such as websites to understand the concepts [...]

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What is usability, and how can you test for it?

This is the writeup for the presentation: What is usability, and how can you test for it? given at Southampton University March 2009. These views are entirely my own and do not represent those of the IBM corporation. Products are developed to be used by users.  However, if products are not designed with usability in mind, [...]

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ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7/WG2 – Plenary in Berlin

I’ve recently got back from the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 Plenary meeting in Berlin. In case you don’t understand the acronym, this is a meeting of the Software and systems engineering sub-committee of the International Standards Organisation. SC7 and it’s working groups meet twice a year, with the Plenary held in May, and working group meetings [...]

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Useful Searches to add to your Help view

As promised in the previous post, here are the instructions on how to add specific search locations to your Help view. To add new search locations to your Help view, press F1 to display the Help view, and click on the Search tab. Expand the Search Scope section, and click on Advanced Settings to display [...]

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