TC 310 The Computer in Technical Communication

1
TC 310 The Computer in Technical Communication

• Dr. Jennifer Turns
• Week 7, Day 2 (5/14)

2
Professional Portfolio

• Your 9th assignment in this class is to design
  and develop a web-based professional portfolio.
  This professional portfolio should showcase the
  work that you have completed since the beginning
  of the term.

3
Looking back / Looking forward
Day Emphasis
Monday Definition, examples, analysis
Wednesday Audience analysis, more examples
Monday Holiday
Wednesday Preliminary designs
Monday (Flash fun)
Wednesday Open House, Due date!
4
Taking Stock

• What were you supposed to be learning in this
  course?
• What progress have we made toward the desired
  learning?

5
Taking Stock - WOW!

• Eight Designed Solutions
• Illustrating uses of software Word, Powerpoint,
  Photoshop, Visio, RoboHelp, Dreamweaver, HTML,
  InDesign
• Illustrating genres of TC activity Document
  design, Presentation design, Fact Sheets, Online
  Help
• Illustrating use of common software functionality
  - Styles, Master Slide/Page, Layers
• Key Features talking about solutions
• Design Rationale talking about design
• Learning Reflections talking about learning

6
Taking Stock- Learning Obj

• Use Software Tools. Use modern software tools to
  accomplish common TC activities including
  presentation management, word processing,
  graphics design, diagram design, page layout, web
  development, online help development, and
  animation.
• Learn New Software Tools. Use skills developed
  throughout the course (particularly an
  understanding of tool functionality and
  strategies to get oriented in a new software
  program) to quickly come up to speed on new
  software tools.
• Identify Effective TC Solutions. Identify
  criteria for judging the effectiveness of TC
  solutions (e.g., document, diagram, etc.) and use
  these criteria to evaluate TC solutions.
• Describe Personal Design Processes. Describe and
  use design processes that lead to effective
  solutions for a wide range of TC professional
  activities.
• Create Effective TC Solutions. Create effective
  TC solutions by using the software skills learned
  in the course as well as the knowledge of what
  makes TC solutions effective and a personal
  awareness of design process issues.

7
Taking Stock

• Publish
• Publish your submission portfolio in
  E-portfolio.
• Explore
• Explore your own submission portfolio
• Explore the submission portfolios of others
• Brainstorm
• What progress relative to the course learning
  objectives?

8
Looking back / Looking forward
Day Emphasis
Monday Definition, examples, analysis
Wednesday Audience analysis, more examples
Monday Holiday
Wednesday Preliminary designs
Monday (Flash fun)
Wednesday Open House, Due date!
9
Day 14

• By the end of class, students should be able to
• Identify decisions that need to be made in
  designing the professional portfolio
• Discuss different audiences for the professional
  portfolio, and the implications for design
  decisions
• Describe various types of student constructed
  portfolios

• What well do
• Part 1 Use audience analysis to identify
  implications for design and design decisions
• Part 2 Learn about other student portfolio work
  on campus (FIELD TRIP).

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Decisions in Designing the Professional Portfolio
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PETTT Spring Forum May 21, 2003 "Using
Portfolios to Bridge Classroom, Community, and
Career"

• Post-secondary institutions are increasingly
  turning to electronic portfolios to help students
  demonstrate learning and showcase skills. On May
  21st the UW Program for Educational
  Transformation Through Technology will hold its
  annual Spring Symposium, that will highlight the
  personal, academic, and career benefits students
  get from creating an electronic portfolio.
  Symposium participants will explore the many new
  tools and resources available to University of
  Washington students that help them use portfolios
  effectively, including the newly released
  Catalyst Portfolio tool. The program will be held
  in the Henry Art Gallery Auditorium from
  200pm-500pm, with a reception to follow. From
  200pm - 330pm the symposium will feature
  electronic portfolios by students in various
  disciplines, with comments by their campus
  mentors.
• http//depts.washington.edu/pettt/events/

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Audience Analysis Users

• What types of users might make use of the
  professional portfolio?

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Audience Analysis - Personas

• Your Team Task
• Create a persona for the assigned user group
  with
• name,
• goals/tasks,
• knowledge, and
• circumstances of use
• Post your persona to the course EPost.

• Persona A persona is a profile of an
  archetypal user synthesized from a series of
  interviews with real people. It includes a name,
  a social history, and a set of goals that drive
  the developers design of the product or
  website. (Perfetti, in Intercom, Nov 2002, p.
  35)

14
Investor

• Robert Calvin is an investor. He is interested in
  funding projects that will make him money. He's
  interested in startup companies in technical
  communication and engineering fields. He's
  devoted to his career. Consequently, he's been
  divorced four times. His dog left with his last
  wife. So he has no private life and devotes all
  his time to his business ventures. He has a lot
  on his mind.

15
Organization seeking TC skills

• Joe is 42 years old and has worked with his
  current company, Sea Monkey's Inc., for the past
  10 years. He earned his degree in business and is
  interested in further developing the product
  while reducing overhead costs. Realizing that
  outsourcing requires a deep knowledge of
  technical communication, Joe is in search for
  someone who can provide that expertise.

16
Professional Microsoft Recruiter

• Janet De Cosmo is a technical recruiter for
  Microsoft, and she's interested in finding
  potential candidates for full time employment.
  She travels frequently and visits different
  colleges across the country. This year, she's
  looking for candidates who have both ability to
  write (or edit) and design documents, web pages,
  and graphics. The company has three job openings,
  and they require a creative person who has skills
  in Visio, PowerPoint, or any Desktop or Web
  Publishing tools. Janet is also searching for
  candidates who have the ability to work
  independently as well as in groups.

17
A TC Department is hiring

• Archibald has been working for XYZ Co. for 8
  years. He graduated from the UWTC department 10
  years ago. His specialty is web design. He is in
  charge of hiring new employees and is currnetly
  looking to fill a position in the TC department
  of XYZ Co. Some things that he looks for when
  hiring are absolute loyalty, experience in
  several software applications including InDesign,
  Photoshop, and Dreamweaver. In his spare time he
  likes to go skinny dipping with his pet iguana
  named fluffy. He is also studying to be a french
  chef.

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Audience Analysis (cont.)

• Dimensions
• Goals What would be his/her goal in interacting
  with the professional portfolio? Implications?
• Knowledge What types of knowledge does he/she
  bring (and not bring)?
• Circumstances of Use Under what circumstance
  might he/she explore the professional portfolio?
  Implications?

19
Looking back / Looking forward
Day Emphasis
Monday Definition, examples, analysis
Wednesday Audience analysis, more examples
Monday Holiday
Wednesday Preliminary designs
Monday (Flash fun)
Wednesday Open House, Due date!
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Homework Wednesday, 5/28

• As a team, prepare a 2-3 page working prototype
  of your professional portfolio.
• Pages The prototype should include the main
  portfolio page as well as 1-2 artifact pages.
• Dimensions The prototype should include
• Website design details (navigation, graphic
  design)
• Writing samples (professional statement excerpts,
  one artifact annotation).