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A focus group is a group of potential users that are brought together to discuss how they currently use, or would use, your product. Though focus groups seem like a helpful source of information...

Picture this: you’re standing behind a stage waiting for your turn to give a hilarious, knee-slapping stand-up comedy bit. Since the stage is inside a high school auditorium, you assume your audience will consist of grungy, bored teenagers. You've diligently researched and prepared an action-packed bit full of colorful stories and funny noises. As your turn is announced, you confidently walk on the stage, ready to blow the audience away and earn their respect. The curtain opens, exposing the many eyes on you. Your jaw drops. Instead of seeing a bunch of restless teenagers, you’re faced with a large group of older folks, and I mean OLDER folks. In the front row, there’s a sweet old lady wearing a shirt with a local nursing home name on it. The group sits patiently, waiting for you to begin.

Congratulations, you’re starting a project! Starting a project as a technical writer might seem daunting, but don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it in no time. This document aims to serve as an aide to you as you start a new project. Maybe you have extensive experience in project work, or maybe this is your first time. Either way, that’s ok! We are here to help regardless of your experience level, and as always, never be afraid to ask questions to your supervisor and fellow technical writers. With that being said, let’s talk about how to start a project!

As designers, we are experts of user experience, design aesthetics, and stakeholder needs. The part we are typically unsure of is understanding the real business value of what we do best.

Inclusive design describes methodologies to create products that understand and enable people of all backgrounds and abilities. It may address accessibility, age, economic situation, geographic location, language, race, and more.

Finding information is one of the main reasons people visit websites, so organizing web information is extremely important.

Persona creation usually focuses on defining the characteristics of a group of users. Although understanding who your users are is a good baseline, understanding what they’re trying to accomplish and why...

Think about what you do when you look at a page and see a never-ending chunk of unbroken text. A non-stop flow of information and shortened attention span means that you don’t read content...