Category Archives: content strategy

On Awards and Algorithms

Posted on 15 January 2012 by David Farbey

I am very proud to be listed as No. 8 on MindTouch’s list of Tech Comm Influencers for 2011. Nevertheless, and despite that fact that I don’t have a good success record at questioning awards I receive (or don’t receive), … Continue reading →

Posted in content strategy, technical writing | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Plenty of UK events in 2012

Posted on 28 December 2011 by David Farbey

Happy new year everyone. If you are interested in technical communication, information design, or content strategy (or any combination of the three!) there’s a lot going on in the UK in 2012. Here are just a few of the highlights … Continue reading →

Posted in content strategy, information design, technical writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The “Minimum Effective Dose” of Content

Posted on 20 November 2011 by David Farbey

When I spoke at the Congility Conference in May 2011 I used the phrase “minimum effective dose” to describe the amount of content we need to deliver to our users. This is a phrase that arose in discussions about content … Continue reading →

Posted in content strategy, information design, technical writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Don’t write about the “Cancel” button

Posted on 30 October 2011 by David Farbey

In my opinion, when you are creating task-based help topics for software users you don’t necessarily need to write about the Cancel button in a dialog box. Here’s why.

Posted in content strategy, technical writing | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Another Myth About Content

Posted on 11 September 2011 by David Farbey

It’s time for a few more comments from me on Myths About Content. (For myths 1 and 2 please see my earlier post.) Myth no. 3 – Content is easy to find One of the most pervasive myths about content is that … Continue reading →

Posted in content strategy, information design, technical writing | Leave a comment

Myths About Content

Posted on 24 August 2011 by David Farbey

People who aren’t directly involved in creating content often hold a set of beliefs about what content is and how it is created that can only be described as myths. That may sound a little harsh, because believing in myths … Continue reading →

Posted in content strategy, information design, technical writing | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Not quite a re-launch

Posted on 21 August 2011 by David Farbey

I have changed the title and the strap-line of my blog, and you may be wondering why. Let me explain. Conventional writing and publishing is about delivering messages from the writer to the reader: the reader’s only response is to … Continue reading →

Posted in content strategy, information design, technical writing | 4 Comments

Congility conference retrospective

Posted on 27 May 2011 by David Farbey

I spent the last two days at the Congility conference, held near London, and chaired by Noz Urbina of Mekon. This event is the successor to the X-Pubs conferences held in previous years, and was all about making your content … Continue reading →

Posted in content strategy, technical writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments