With more and more people using tablets for reading technical documentation, this webinar looks at how this trend will affect the way technical documents are designed and developed. We'll look at examples of documents that 'work' on a tablet, as well as documents that don't. We'll explore some of the emerging design trends for presenting technical documentation on tablets, and what they mean for Technical Writers. We'll also investigate how tablets, and the technologies contained within then, could be used to improve the User Assistance we provide to our readers. Ellis is Director and Help Strategist at Cherryleaf, a technical writing services and training company based near London, in the United Kingdom. He has over fifteen years’ experience working in the field of documentation, has a BA in Business Studies, and is an Associate of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Ranked the most influential blogger on technical communication in Europe, Ellis is also an author and editor of two books: ‘How to Write Instructions’ and ‘Trends in Technical Communication’.

1. Designing technical documentation for tablets
Ellis Pratt | Director | Twitter @ellispratt | www.cherrylear.com | ellis@cherryleaf.com
Maxwell Hoffmann | Adobe Product Evangelist | Twitter @maxwellhoffmann | mhoffman@adobe.com
© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

2. About Adobe
 Founded in December 1982  74 Offices in 43 Countries
 $4.2 billion in revenue in FY2011  Corporate Headquarters in
San Jose, California
 More than 10,000 employees
 Adobe donates a minimum of 1%
of net income to philanthropy
We simplify complicated, inefficient, and expensive workflows.
We enable more engaging, compelling content.
We drive greater return from digital media and marketing investments.
© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 2

3. About Maxwell Hoffmann
Maxwell Hoffmann
 Product Evangelist, Tech Comm Suite
 Former Product Manager and Sales Training Director
for Frame Technology
 15 years in translation industry, working
on “whatever documents walked through the door”
 Trained over 1,200 people in hands-on,
scalable publishing solutions
© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 3

4. About our Guest Thought Leader
Ellis Pratt
 Director and co-owner of Cherryleaf
 Based close to London’s Heathrow Airport
 Working in Technical Communications since
circa 1996(!)
© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 4

5. Designing technical
documentation
for tablets
Adobe Webinar
Ellis Pratt
Cherryleaf

6. What we’ll cover
1. About me
2. What makes tablet devices different?
3, 4 & 5. Three uses of tablets, from a
techcomms view
6. A SIMPLES strategy

7. 1. About me

8. Director of Cherryleaf
UK technical writing services
company
My experience is of technical
communication in:
• UK and Europe
• IT & medical equipment QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Workshops on writing for Web-
based apps, iPads & DITA

9. 2. What makes tablet
devices different?

10. What we’ll cover
The competitors
Why are tablets popular?
We need to abandon some assumptions

11. The competitors

12. Why a tablet?
Intuitive to use (almost)
Long battery life
Portability
Bring Your Own Device
Retina screen
Weight
Always on

13. We need to abandon
some assumptions

14. The screen
“Retina” displays
Greater contrast on screens
Closer to paper than a
screen
Tablet screen sizes can
differ

15. Abandoning
Assumptions
“The TOC must be on
the left”
“Scrolling vertically is
better”
Michael Campbell

16. Abandoning
Assumptions
“ As designers, we tend to think that people start at
the top left and just move left to right and down the
page.
But research shows that isn’t what happens.
People are attracted primarily to contrast, which is
one of the key visual principles that has been studied
by researchers again and again.
Contrast is created by differences in light and dark,
thick and thin, big and small.
For example, headings that are bolder than the text, Karen Schriver
pictures that are big in relation to small pictures. ”

17. Can we use print
composition theories?
Kress and Van Leeuven

18. We can do things
differently
Some print composition
techniques now work on
screen
We can use a horizontal,
paper metaphor
Right-sided navigation is
now possible

19. We can do things
differently
“Deep learning” on
screen is now possible

20. It’s haptic
Device can vibrate
Device can be aware of user’s
location
You can pinch and zoom to
view some content

21. Three uses of tablets,
from a techcomms view
Mobile apps
Mobile web
Mobile documents

22. 3.Mobile apps

23. Smaller, more
focused apps
Often familiar to user
Touch terminology
“First user” Help

24. App abandonment
Many used only 3-4
times
Help moves to the
product description
First user interaction
Help

25. Limited traditional
online Help
Leave the app to read Help
Limited help “tools”
Advice from Apple
No settled standards

26. We need Help, but
not as we know it
Flow-based User
Assistance

27. Flow-based User
Assistance
Don’t break the user’s
flow
Guide and pre-empt
= Help is embedded in
the product

28. Flow-based User
Assistance
Assistance is provided
in context
It’s aware of the user’s
situation
Can advise on a good
choice

29. Apple’s Help patent
April 2012

30. Apple’s Help “templates”
Carousel view
Shake to change
3D Zoetrope

31. Gallery of Help
examples
www.g2meyer.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5893

32. 4. Mobile Web

33. Web-based apps
Usually requires a
connection to the internet
Can look like an app on
the desktop
Or accessed via the
browser

34. Web-based apps
You’ll still have:
• Retina screen
• Portrait and landscape
mode
• Touch and haptic
interactions
when HTML5 is adopted

35. Web-based apps
You don’t need to learn
Objective C

36. So is there Help in
Web-based apps?
There is lots of Help,
(under different names)
It is embedded in the
applications
H/T Briana Wherry, Alfresco

37. Social Help
There is a social
element
• Co coaching
• Social proof
H/T Brian Wherry & Robert Cialdini

38. 5. Mobile documents

39. Types of mobile
documents
Electronic Flight Bag
Student text books
Magazines
Operations manuals

40. Two competing
models
Format and content
Publishing
are inseparable
Format and content Technical
are separate issues Publications

41. 2 competing models
“We’re about to usher in a
golden age of PDFs on the
iPad.”
Paul Ford @fttrain
via Karen McGrane

42. PDFs work well
Read in Adobe Reader
iBooks, etc
Can pinch and zoom
Large file size?

43. EPUB
Formatting can be an issue
Tables
Images
Videos must be .mp4 (mv4) format

44. EPUB in the future?
Embedded fonts
CSS3
Nested tables
Boxed elements
SVG graphics
Text popups
Fixed layouts

45. HTML5
You can save pages offline
in theory

46. What about mediums for
structured content?
HTML5 may be your
best bet

47. 6. A SIMPLES
strategy

48. A SIMPLES strategy
Scaleable (to different sizes)
Intuitive to the user
Mobile-friendly
Platform-agnostic
Legalese (right for the platform)
Engaging (to the user)
Single sourced (re-usable,
extensible content) H/T Keren Okman, SAP

49. Summary

50. Plus ça change
(plus c'est la même chose)?
User Assistance will still be there, but in
different places
We’ll need to deliver content on different
devices, in different formats
We’ll be using some new (old) design
metaphors
Help Authoring tools and HTML5 will solve a
lot of the problems we see today

51. Blatant plugs
Q4 Workshops on writing for Web-based apps,
iPads & DITA
Free monthly newsletter
Cherryleaf.com/blog

52. For more information
ellis@cherryleaf.com

53. Questions?

54. End
(c) Cherryleaf 2012

55. Upcoming Adobe TechComm Webinars
 Content Scenarios for Exploring New Information Products, Joe Gollner, 27 June
 Find Out How to Write XSLT Statements for XML to XML Transformations in a 5-part eSeminars
Series, 28 June to 19 July, Tom Aldous
 Expand Your Content Reuse Potential through Indirect Addressing: Using @keys-based
Referencing in DITA 1.2 – Nancy Harrison, 11 July
 Are You Tempted to Use a Template to Expedite Policies & Procedure Development?
Raymond Urgo – 12 July
 Are you struggling to create long, complex documents with Microsoft Word? There is a much
easier way! – Tom Aldous, 13 July
 Part II: Creating an Accessible Layout – Tips to make documents more accessible (structure,
colors, fonts, more) – Char James-Tanney, 17 July,
 Part III: Developing Accessible Content – Tips on grammar, paragraph, and sentence length,
alternate text, and more – Char James-Tanney, 31 July
Calendar of upcoming eSeminars: http://adobe.ly/xdzOYa
© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 55

56. Questions and Answers
© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 56

57. Contact Information
Information
Ellis Pratt Blog Cherryleaf.com/blog
Cherryleaf Twitter http://twitter.com/ellispratt
Email ellis@cherryleaf.com
Web http://cherryleaf.com
Maxwell Hoffmann Blog blogs.adobe.com/techcomm
Adobe Systems, Inc. Blog blogs.adobe.com/mbhoffmann
Product Evangelist Twitter twitter.com/maxwellhoffmann
Email n
mhoffma @adobe.com
Web www.adobe.com
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/maxwellhoffmann
Facebook maxwell.hoffmann1
Facebook As Adobe Technical Communication Professionals Group
Calendar of upcoming eSeminars: http://adobe.ly/xdzOYa
Previously recorded eSeminars: http://adobe.ly/qo3pzc
© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 57