Our technical writing firm has been hired by Client experiencing a significant increase in customer complaints regarding the documentation for a recently launched product. Internal and external users find the documents confusing, poorly organized, and lacking essential information. The engineers find the content oversimplified, while the business side feels everything is too jargon-laden for most audiences. The documentation for this product must serve all the stakeholders in the best way possible (engineering team, business team, and end-users/customers). As a technical writer, you have been tasked with assessing the situation and providing suggestions for them to improve their work. You will identify and analyze current research articles on relevant topics (use the provided articles from the weekly readings OR locate new ones), synthesize key findings, and apply them to a practical workplace scenario. You will produce a Visual Research Brief with citations of the articles and the project completion report.

Our technical writing firm has been hired by a higher education advocacy group that wants to propose a new degree type to university officials through an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. They have drafted a proposal and asked you to evaluate the document and provide feedback. You suspect that the group heavily utilized an LLM in creating the proposal, so you asked them to explain their creative process. They provided a video commentary on the edits to reference as you further assess the work. You take all their materials and return a written analysis with comments on their work to help them improve their proposal.

Our technical writing firm is working with a think tank in your field (a collection of thought leaders and researchers tasked with solving problems).  A client asked the think tank to help them decide between two potential solutions to an issue with sustainability, equity, or economic impacts in their field. Given the current technological, social, and economic climate, you’ve found the leading TWO solutions and are researching the best option. You address a formal letter to the actual organization or person who influences this field (the stakeholder who contracted the think tank). Your letter needs to identify the work filled in and persuade them that your report is credible, helpful, and oriented toward actions. Then, the report shows the highest level of formality with background research, clear methods, data for each criterion used to compare the solutions, and the final recommendation.

The Goals: To create a persuasive pitch video that effectively communicates the project's value and potential impact.

The Asks:

• • Ask 1: Identify a pressing social challenge related to equity, sustainability, or other cultural issues.
  • Ask 2: Develop a novel project idea that addresses the chosen challenge using STEM, education, or health-focused approaches.
  • Ask 3: Create a persuasive pitch video that outlines the problem, proposed solution, and potential impact.
  • Ask 4: Reflect on the process in a project completion report

This episode explains the expectations for grading in the LLM Challenge: SOP.

The Goals: To provide the student success and advising center with a finalized Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for implementing the routine.

The Asks:

• • Ask 1: Generate a routine using generative AI (morning/evening, study, workout/physical activity, or mental health/emotional wellness).
  • Ask 2: Follow the generated routine for at least three days, documenting effectiveness and needed changes.
  • Ask 3: Revise the routine based on your experience and feedback.
  • Ask 4: Create a final SOP document for the client.
  • Ask 5: Write a project completion report for the firm manager.

This episode describes the expectations when grading the Design Tools Challenge.

The Goals: Replicate the provided file as closely as possible to show your skills with information and graphic design software

The Asks:

• • Ask 1: Use the Poster_Design_OSHA.pdf to manipulate the provided copy using a design tool (like Canva, Adobe, etc.)
  • Ask 2: Write a project completion report

This episode outlines the expectations and grading for the User Guide Analysis project.

The Goals: To assess the client's existing user guides for a specific product and notice adjustments

The Asks:

• • Ask 1: Thoroughly review the client's current user guides (find an example of a product guide to analyze)
  • Ask 2: Conduct audience research to identify the target audience's demographics, technical skills, and information needs.
  • Ask 3: Analyze the user guides, considering clarity, organization, language, visuals, and overall effectiveness.
  • Ask 4: Develop specific recommendations for improvement, which may include simplifying language, restructuring content, adding visuals, or suggesting alternative formats.

This file explains the expectations for the eBooklet project as I grade your work.

The Goals: To teach a "student success hack" using Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tools. This implies you need to find a specific, useful technique that leverages these tools to help students improve their academic performance or organization.

The Asks:

• • The client specifically requested that you do not provide general descriptions of the software. You need to explain how to use the tool to accomplish a specific, student-focused procedure.
  • You must include information about digital accessibility tools.
  • The final deliverable must be a PDF booklet in a vertical format.

This episode is a brief grading note and explanation of what I was looking for when reviewing your projects.

Project Summary Below:

Our technical writing firm has been hired by a Client to create a video demonstration for their products. You've been assigned to develop that video that guides potential customers through your product's set-up, instructions, and troubleshooting. Your audience comprises individuals who have purchased or are considering purchasing the product. They may have varying levels of familiarity with similar products, so creating a video that is easy to understand for beginners and informative for those with some prior experience is essential. The video will be posted on the product's promotional website and linked in confirmation emails sent to customers after purchase. The final video will be 3-6 minutes long and will be submitted as a link so I can view it on YouTube, Vimeo, Stream, etc. 

The Goals: To create a video demonstration that effectively guides customers through the product's setup, instructions, and troubleshooting. 

• Ask 1: Develop a script that outlines the key steps involved in setting up, using, and troubleshooting the product. 

• Ask 2: Record video footage demonstrating each step clearly and concisely. 

• Ask 3: Incorporate narration or on-screen text to guide viewers through the process. 

• Ask 4: Edit the video, adding music, transitions, and visual effects to enhance engagement. 

• Ask 6: Reflect on the process in a project completion report 

This lecture covers an Introduction to Digital Accessibility as part of the Introduction to Technical Writing and Presentation series.

Accessibility is the broad subject and term that describes the quality of being easily reached, entered, or used who have a disability. As technical writers we narrow that to digital accessibility, which is specific to information and content.

The lecture is divided into three core sections.

1. First we will define digital accessibility for our work by exploring models of disability and imaging a few user personas with what it means for our products.
2. Then we will discuss the legal standards for accessibility. We have national and international standards to follow in our content because ignoring accessibility represents form discrimination. We will also talk about the benefits to companies of following these standards–beyond avoiding legal action.
3. The final section outlines concrete actions that we can take to create more usable content for everyone. We will go over the tools for accessibility checking inside of the products you might be using in this course and potential careers.