About This Site
This site provides information about available services from VanArsdall InfoDesign™, a technical communication company. It also serves as a resource for anyone who is interested in technical communication.
About technical communication
In case you have landed here for the first time and you have no idea what technical communication (also called tech comm) is, let’s start with a couple of questions.
- Have you ever sought help while using a computer, a mobile device, a new kitchen appliance, or a web site? If your answer is yes, then the manual or help page that you consulted was most likely created by a tech comm professional.
- Have you ever been frustrated because a web site was difficult to navigate or a cell phone was difficult to use? If your answer is yes, then that site and that cell phone were probably not designed by a tech comm professional.
Technical communication professionals include writers, editors, trainers, instructional designers, usability specialists, information architects, content strategists, project managers, and business analysts. Regardless of our title, our common goal is to make life easier for consumers—or users—of products and information.
We seek to create the best possible user experience. To accomplish that goal, we work with users to learn about their requirements. We take whatever we learn and apply that knowledge to designing a solution for those users. We design training courses, reference documentation, web sites, knowledge bases, and product interfaces, among other things.
About me
I have more than 20 years of experience as a technical communication professional. I started out writing training manuals and conducting user training. Over the years I have held many roles, including instructional designer, instructor, technical writer, technical editor, web designer, information designer and architect, and content strategist.
The all-encompassing label that describes what I do is Information Design and Development. I started my own business in 2006 after years of working as an employee or contractor for various companies. For more information about my professional background, visit the Company Info page.
I have a keen interest in social media technologies and how they are changing the web and the world. I have used wikis for project collaboration and content development. I use Facebook and Twitter. I am especially interested in becoming more involved in projects where social media technologies are used in learning organizations.
About my blog posts
This is not a personal site per se, though I keep the tone informal. I generally write about subjects that are related to tech comm. I like to encourage an information exchange, and I enjoy receiving reader responses. I always learn from you.
I also happen to be a certified MadCap Flare™ instructor and consultant, so you will often see posts and articles related to Flare. Since I teach MadCap Software’s certified training curriculum, I often post articles about Flare topics that I cannot adequately cover in class. I hope that the content of those posts will appeal to both Flare students and more seasoned users.
Related links
For more information about technical communication, follow these links:
