Chapter 26: Conclusion

I like this chapter because it was "to the point" and short. :) In another class, I did some research about contract vs. permanent technical writers. The contract writers made about double the money as permanent writers. Of course, contract writers need to provide their own benefits and matching taxes. The down side to contracting is that you have to sell yourself over and over--not just one time to one company. But if you enjoy job hunting and applying, contract work has financial advantages (not to mention freedom). I also liked that the author stressed that writing skills are as important as a knowledge of the web and multimedia. I'm baffled though. In the college degree section, I saw universities like USC and MIT listed, but no DSC. What's up with that???

Chapter 14: Museum Kiosk

I enjoyed this chapter and the presentation Paul's group gave. The two points I particularly liked are (1) target audience and (2) interactivity. The target audience is difficult to address with kiosks. First, you have to address the main group the kiosk is targeting (as with all other multimedia and web writing), but with kiosk scripts, you also have to address a diverse audience. You never know who will access the information. I think interactivity is also important. Again, with any multimedia and web writing, you have to make the information interesting. If not, you'll lose your user quickly. The chapter mentions that a program has about five seconds to capture a user. The case study of the Nauticus Shibuilding Company is a good example of writing for a diverse audience (they made the program easy enough for most anyone to use) and using interactivity to capture the user.

Chapter 15: Training

Nothing is more boring than watching training tutorials. The case study of Vital Signs reminded me of that. I do like self-paced rather than live, not for the entertainment value, but so I can finish them quicker. Vital Signs tried to use humor to keep the users attention, but I like the idea of creating a story or game the user can play to learn information. Traditional computer-based training seems difficult to make entertaining. And as the book mentioned previously, if you cannot keep the user's attention, even the best information becomes useless.

Chapter Eleven: T. Rowe Price

This chapter deals with the redesign T. Rowe Price's website. I found the chapter interesting because I will be redesigning a website for my class-project. The designers were challenged because they needed to make changes without losing a portion of their audience. I like how they changed the content organization from product centered to user centered. This enabled their customers to get to information without navigating through stuff they were not interested in. I also learned the difference between custominzation (user picks the content) and personalization (software program creates unique content for users). I liked that the designers made the site changable without programming too.

Chapter Five: Script Formatting

Although scripting is generally used near the end of project planning, if at all, Chapter Five deals primarily with this topic. The chapter shows many forms, in which a project can be scripted depending upon the amount of interactivity involved: Single Column, Double Column, Three Column with Narration, etc. What I gained most from the chapter is the importance of a good outline and flowchart. So long as the client and production team can understand the information and navigation, it does not matter how the information is given to them. I want to check out a program mentioned in Chapter Five: StoryView. The chapter says StoryView is a visual outliner for writers that lets them create and organize ideas. Sounds interesting.

Chapter Seven: Goals

I enjoyed this chapter a bit more although I still find the material difficult to understand at times. I think the overall chapter concept is that the more time you spend in the early stages of project developement, the better chance you have for success. You should thoroughly understand your client (the business), their customers, and the data you'll write about. Looking at user scenarios (use cases) is a good way of assuring that the user's needs are being met. An interesting point the author made, which I totally agree with, is that information needs to be conveyed in an entertaining manner. No matter how good the information is, if a writer cannot keep the user's attention, the information will not be read and is therefore useless.

Chapter Three

Okay, I'm going to vent for a minute. I hate the fact that the author compares writing for multimedia with writing linear pieces in every chapter, down-playing the difficulty of linear writing. In chapter three, the author says: "Multimedia is far more challenging than structuring a linear piece...because multimedia is made up of many discreet units of information that can be connected in a myriad of ways." I understand his point, but can he express it without belittling novelists, essayists, and screenplay writers? Honestly, nearly anyone can set up a decent multimedia website by using a template, but how many people can write a novel and get it published? Judging by the usage errors in the text on the CD, I doubt the textbook's author could. The information in chapter three was interesting, and possibly useful, but without jabs at linear writers, I would have enjoyed the chapter more.

Chapter One: Interactivity and the Writer

I read the chapter twice, and I still only understood half the information. I guess it will take some time to get used to the terminology such as recognizing the difference between "multimedia," "interactive multimedia," and "interactive media." I am used to linear communication, so that is what I enjoy. Although I use interactive media to access information on the internet, I've never heard of most of the video games and interactive websites the author mentioned. I hope future chapters focus on information sites such as the T. Rowe Price example and not games or game sites such as Half Life 2.

Technology/Literacy Autobiography

I first learned how to use computers when I was in junior high school, if you can imagine that. I had a programming class. We used these huge cards to write commands; I believe the system was called FORTRAN. Later, my parents purchased an Atari computer video game. We spent countless hours playing pong. My first experience with contemporary computers was about fifteen years ago when I purchased estimating software for a collision repair shop that I owned. This software enabled my estimators to assess damage on vehicles quickly. An estimate that would take an hour to write could now be completed in ten minutes. What a time saver!

My first experience with the internet was around fifteen years ago also. I learned to upload photos of vehicle damage to insurance companies to save them the trouble of sending an adjuster to my shop.

I avoided social networks for a long time. I have never been on MySpace or Twitter. About a year ago, a friend set up a page on Facebook for our triathlon club. To access the page, I needed to create my own account. I did. I found Facebook very addicting, spending perhaps an hour a day on the site. Luckily, the effect wore off and now I only access my account periodically.

I think supplementary online support can help me with this course as much information is available on any topic. This is the main advantage. The disadvantage, of course, is that anyone can post anything. There is no review process for much of the information on the internet. To limit this disadvantage, I must visit several sites to verify the information I obtain.