The purpose of this 2-day course is to teach fundamental principles and guidelines for designing better user interfaces to the designers of software applications based on GUI and/or Web platforms. Interfaces designed according to these principles and guidelines will be more marketable in today's competitive market and will enable significantly greater user productivity and satisfaction. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to design software user interfaces that:

• Are easier to learn and remember
• Are easier to use
• Support the weaknesses and exploit the strengths of human information processing capabilities
• Follow well-established principles of good design
• Allow users to be more productive
• Result in fewer user errors
• Require less training time
• Require less user reference to documentation and Help systems
• Require less customer support
• Are easier to develop and maintain

This course presents principles and guidelines drawn from the substantial collection of research, case studies and design experience of experts in the fast growing field of computer-human interaction. It offers examples of implementing principles and guidelines in the context of both GUI and Web platform capabilities and constraints. Attendees will participate in design exercises to reinforce the principles being taught.

Instructor:

...pioneer in usability, author of several usability books including The Usability Engineering Lifecycle

Dr. Deborah J. Mayhew is an internationally recognized author, teacher, speaker, and consultant on software user interface design and usability engineering. With over 20 years in the field of usability engineering, Dr. Mayhew has consulted with large corporations around the globe on the design of computing products from mainframe computers to software GUIs.

A pioneer in computer usability, Dr. Mayhew taught some of the earliest university courses in the nation on user interface design and usability engineering. Dr. Mayhew has authored several published books including The Usability Engineering Lifecycle, Cost-Justifying Usability, and Principles and Guidelines in Software User-Interface Design. Dr. Mayhew holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Tufts University.

In her keynote address Dr. Mayhew will present an interactive and entertaining crash course in human cognition, aimed at introducing documentation and training professionals to the underlying, general, media-independent principles of human information processing.

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Description:

This class teaches users the basics of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)...how to read it, and how to code it. At the completion of this course, students will understand the HTML authoring language and be able to read and change web documents in their source HTML language...transcending specific authoring tool limitations!

Instructor:

An experienced writer and teacher, Mike Doyle has been in the technical communications industry for almost 20 years, delivering information on a variety of leading-edge software technologies such as transaction and image processing. In addition, he is the senior lecturer in the Technical Communications Certificate program at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, where he has taught for the past 16 years.

Mike has over 5 years experience in developing HTML-based information, significant given the short lifespan of the commercially available Web (1993). As leader of the web development group within PUBSNET called Grant Communications , Mike has helped launch over 250 corporate sites (see http://www.web-print-design.com/).

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Description:

The Corporate Standard® Seminar, "Functional Thinking and Writing," is the best Structured-Writing training available for those who need to communicate in a business or a technical environment. Find out why many participants who have been trained in structured writing by other companies are signing up for "Functional Thinking and Writing."

Learn the skills to analyze and structure information so your readers can find it fast and understand it clearly. This hands-on seminar allows you to apply excellent communication models to convey complex information.

Instructor:

Steve Murphy has almost 20 years experience as a project leader, consultant, and publications training manager, and is certified by the Corporate Standard. Just before joining PUBSNET, Steve was Director of Operations for Consulting and Seminar Services for Information Mapping, Inc. Steve has substantial cross-industry experience, having provided documentation and training solutions in industries from Financial Services and High Technology to Health Care and Petrochemicals. Steve has delivered a variety of papers at national STC conferences. Steve holds an M.B.A. (Rivier College, 1988).

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How to Index User Manuals & Online Help
(April 11)

Description: Do you have the expertise to produce a top-quality index? Most software users look at the index for the tasks they want to perform. Most untrained indexers list the features of the software program. This course is designed to help you develop a user-oriented perspective.

Instructor: Susan Holbert has been an indexing consultant for seventeen years. She has indexed more than one hundred books and manuals, ranging from a programming textbook to the autobiography of Rosalynn Carter. She has worked for the U.S. and Massachusetts government, as well as for numerous technology and business firms, including Sun Microsystems, Ortho Diagnostics, and American Management Association.

As a long-term indexing consultant to Lotus Development Corp., she wrote the Indexing chapter of the Lotus Style Guide. She has created two very popular indexing seminars, Basic Indexing Skills and How to Index User Manuals and On-Line Help. She helped design and market an indexing software program, wINDEX. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Documentation Professionals and the Freelance Editorial Association. She received a B.A. from Wellesley College.

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ABREVE Globalization Workshop

(April 11)

Description: · Do you create, develop, write, edit or manage content for your company? Are you faced with the challenge of globalizing and localizing that content? Or perhaps you think multilingual content is somebody else's concern? Think again! In the age of instant Web globality and repurposing, global multilingual content is very much your responsibility.

Let us help. At ArchiText, we're experts in globalizing content; we understand multilingual requirements and costs. This workshop shows you how to save money, maximize your content's effectiveness and improve your globalization process. Whether you've been translating content for a long time, haven't even contemplated translation yet, or have the best darn group of content creators and localizers on the planet - this workshop is for you.

Our training emphasizes an approach to content that combines good writing, state-of-the-art content management and high-quality localization. Through pre- and post-testing, demonstrations, discussions and practical exercises, we will show you the critical link between what you create and its successful multilingual delivery. You'll discover that proper writing is the foundation for content in every medium - and every market - where it is used. A business model will clearly demonstrate the savings you can expect.

In this age of e-information, your content has to be ready for all world markets from the get-go. With this workshop, you'll gain valuable techniques that you can implement right away to dramatically increase your content's chances of success in the world and significantly cut localization costs.

Instructors: · Lynne Nadeau is an editor in the English Source Group at ArchiText Inc., a Methuen-based documentation and language service company, and an instructor for ArchiText's ABREVE workshops on preparing texts for global markets. She also has experience as an editor for technical publications (including BYTE Magazine) and as a college writing instructor. Hans Fenstermacher is president and founder of ArchiText Inc. Hans speaks six languages and has nearly 20 years' experience producing technical documentation in English and many other languages.

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Using WebWorks Publisher
(April 11-12)

Description:

WebWorks Publisher is a powerful single-source publishing tool for use in conjunction with Adobe FrameMaker; allowing users to easily and flexibly retarget FrameMaker documentation designed for print to the web, online help, and other electronic media. In this detailed, hands-on seminar, you'll focus on the mechanics of using WebWorks Publisher to retarget several different FrameMaker books into HTML, Microsoft WinHelp, Microsoft HTML Help, and Sun Microsystems' JavaHelp.

Included is extensive coverage of WebWorks Publisher features, capabilities, and tools, including how to set up a project, apply mappings between how your printed documents look versus how you want your online documents to look, and get the results you want. Additional details will be provided on the ins and outs of each different format and how WebWorks Publisher goes about translating between the two.

Instructor: Bernard Aschwanden is an Adobe Certified Expert with a solid background in technical documentation. Over the past 15 years Bernard has helped hundreds of companies implement documentation solutions, and has delivered Adobe products training to literally thousands of satisfied participants. He regularly presents to the FrameMaker Users Network, the Society for Technical Communications, and has presented on behalf of major software manufacturers across the United States and Canada.

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