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Janice Redish "Ginny" | |
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| Occupation | author, content writer, UX designer, speaker, consultant |
Janice "Ginny" Redish is an American usability writer and consultant. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College and holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Harvard University.
In 1979, she founded the Document Design Centre (DDC) at the American Institutes for Research in Washington D.C. and remained as Director for thirteen years. The DDC aimed to streamline workplace documents for government agencies and major private companies by developing online document template models. She founded one of the first independent usability test laboratories in the United States of America in 1985, monitoring users who would test new user interfaces and document templates for the multinationals such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
From 1992 onwards, she worked as an independent consultant for government agencies and multinationals on usability and documentation. She has published three books on effective writing, usability studies, and web communication, one of which has been translated into Chinese.
Janice (Ginny) Redish, Ph.D. Business and services Janice (Ginny) Redish is president of Redish & Associates, Inc., a woman-owned, small business in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Through her highly-interactive training and collaborative consulting, Ginny helps with content strategy, information design, plain language, usability, and writing for the web – including writing for the small screen of tablets and smartphones. Ginny is sought after as a speaker and workshop leader. She is a dynamic instructor who has trained thousands of writers and subject matter specialists in the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. Ginny has keynoted conferences in the United States, China, England, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain. Many of Ginny's tailored training classes have been for economists, scientists, lawyers, and other professionals. She is an expert at helping professionals learn to meet their goals of technical and legal accuracy while also communicating clearly to their readers. Clients Ginny has completed over 400 consulting, research, or training projects with clients in the United States, Canada, and Europe. This list names just a few of the many organizations Ginny has helped: • AARP • American Airlines • EPCOR (Canada) • Google • Hewlett-Packard • IBM • Marriott International • Nokia (Finland) • PayPal • SAP (Germany) • Vanguard • Xerox • and more than 50 state, provincial, and federal agencies
Several Plain Language awards from the National Institutes of Health
Books, book chapters, and journal articles Ginny's book, Letting Go of the Words – Writing Web Content that Works, continues to receive rave reviews on Amazon.com and in blogs. Her two earlier books on usability techniques are considered to be classics: • A Practical Guide to Usability Testing (with Joseph Dumas, Intellect Ltd., first edition, 1993; revised edition, 1999) • User and Task Analysis for Interface Design (with JoAnn Hackos, Wiley, 1998) In addition, Ginny serves on the editorial or executive board of 3 journals and has published numerous papers and book chapters on various aspects of accessibility, information design, plain language, usability, and writing for the web. Professional associations and awards Ginny has served on the board of directors of the Center for Plain Language, Society for Technical Communication, and User Experience Professionals Association.
Software documentation is written text or illustration that accompanies computer software or is embedded in the source code. The documentation either explains how the software operates or how to use it, and may mean different things to people in different roles.
A web service (WS) is either:
Documentation is any communicable material that is used to describe, explain or instruct regarding some attributes of an object, system or procedure, such as its parts, assembly, installation, maintenance and use. As a form of knowledge management and knowledge organization, documentation can be provided on paper, online, or on digital or analog media, such as audio tape or CDs. Examples are user guides, white papers, online help, and quick-reference guides. Paper or hard-copy documentation has become less common. Documentation is often distributed via websites, software products, and other online applications.
Plain language is writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly, easily, and completely as possible. Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids verbose, convoluted language and jargon. In many countries, laws mandate that public agencies use plain language to increase access to programs and services. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes plain language in its definition of communication.
Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a software can be used by specified consumers to achieve quantified objectives with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a quantified context of use.
A technical writer is a professional information communicator whose task is to transfer information between two or more parties, through any medium that best facilitates the transfer and comprehension of the information. Technical writers research and create information through a variety of delivery media. Example types of information include online help, manuals, white papers, design specifications, project plans, and software test plans. With the rise of e-learning, technical writers are increasingly becoming involved with creating online training material.
LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI) is a standard developed by the LXI Consortium, a consortium that maintains the LXI specification and promotes the LXI Standard. The LXI standard defines the communication protocols for instrumentation and data acquisition systems using Ethernet. Ethernet is a ubiquitous communication standard providing a versatile interface, the LXI standard describes how to use the Ethernet standards for test and measurement applications in a way that promotes simple interoperability between instruments. The LXI Consortium ensures LXI compliant instrumentation developed by various vendors works together with no communication or setup issues. The LXI Consortium ensures that the LXI standard complements other test and measurement control systems, such as GPIB and PXI systems.
A software requirements specification (SRS) is a description of a software system to be developed. It is modeled after business requirements specification(CONOPS). The software requirements specification lays out functional and non-functional requirements, and it may include a set of use cases that describe user interactions that the software must provide to the user for perfect interaction.
Technical writing is writing or drafting technical communication used in technical and occupational fields, such as computer hardware and software, architecture, engineering, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, finance, medical, consumer electronics, biotechnology, and forestry. Technical writing encompasses the largest sub-field in technical communication.
Technical communication is used to convey scientific, engineering, or other technical information. Individuals in a variety of contexts and with varied professional credentials engage in technical communication. Some individuals are designated as technical communicators or technical writers. These individuals use a set of methods to research, document, and present technical processes or products. Technical communicators may put the information they capture into paper documents, web pages, computer-based training, digitally stored text, audio, video, and other media. The Society for Technical Communication defines the field as any form of communication that focuses on technical or specialized topics, communicates specifically by using technology, or provides instructions on how to do something. More succinctly, the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators defines technical communication as factual communication, usually about products and services. The European Association for Technical Communication briefly defines technical communication as "the process of defining, creating and delivering information products for the safe, efficient and effective use of products ".
Audience analysis is a task that is often performed by technical writers in a project's early stages. It consists of assessing the audience to make sure the information provided to them is at the appropriate level. The audience is often referred to as the end-user, and all communications need to be targeted towards the defined audience. Defining an audience requires the consideration of many factors, such as age, culture and knowledge of the subject. After considering all the known factors, a profile of the intended audience can be created, allowing writers to write in a manner that is understood by the intended audience.
Task analysis is a fundamental tool of human factors engineering. It entails analyzing how a task is accomplished, including a detailed description of both manual and mental activities, task and element durations, task frequency, task allocation, task complexity, environmental conditions, necessary clothing and equipment, and any other unique factors involved in or required for one or more people to perform a given task.
JoAnn T. Hackos is a lecturer, consultant, and author of a number of books about technical communication. Now retired, Dr. Hackos is the founder of the Center for Information-Development Management (CIDM) and the president emeritus of Comtech Services in Denver, Colorado. She is also a fellow and past president of the Society for Technical Communication. She is a member of the IEEE Standards Association and active in the ISO SC7 Working Groups that is developing standards for information developers. She is the co-author of the standards on content management and information-development management.
Robin Patricia Williams is an American educator who has authored many computer-related books, as well as the book Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?. Among her computer books are manuals of style The Mac is Not a Typewriter and numerous manuals for various macOS operating systems and applications, including The Little Mac Book.
User experience design is the process of defining the experience a user would go through when interacting with a company, its services, and its products. Design decisions in UX design are often driven by research, data analysis, and test results rather than aesthetic preferences and opinions. Unlike user interface design, which focuses solely on the design of a computer interface, UX design encompasses all aspects of a user's perceived experience with a product or website, such as its usability, usefulness, desirability, brand perception, and overall performance. UX design is also an element of the customer experience (CX), which encompasses all aspects and stages of a customer's experience and interaction with a company.
A functional specification in systems engineering and software development is a document that specifies the functions that a system or component must perform.
Minimalism in structured writing, topic-based authoring, and technical writing in general is based on the ideas of John Millar Carroll and others. Minimalism strives to reduce interference of information delivery with the user's sense-making process. It does not try to eliminate any chance of the user making a mistake, but regards an error as a teachable moment that content can exploit.
Jock D. Mackinlay is an American information visualization expert and Vice President of Research and Design at Tableau Software. With Stuart Card, George G. Robertson and others he invented a number of information visualization techniques.
SIGDOC is the Special Interest Group on Design of Communication of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), an international learned society for computing. ACM SIGDOC was founded in 1975 by Joseph "Joe" T. Rigo.
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