テクニカルコミュニケーション
出典: フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
テクニカルコミュニケーション (Technical communication) は対象とする顧客に特定の領域について役立つ情報を伝えるプロセスである。その領域は通常、実際には学究的、仕事に関係のあるもの、技術的なものである。その情報は、通常、書くこと、話すことを通して伝わる。情報は、対象とする顧客がアクションを起こすことやそのコンテンツをベースとした決定に適している(Johnson-Sheehan 7)。テクニカルコミュニケーターは、よく新聞、ビデオ、インターネットを含む様々なメディアで製品(成果物)を作る協業作業をする。成果物はユーザマニュアル、技術マニュアル、製品仕様書、製法マニュアル、手順書や指導文書、業務文書、報告書などを含む。
専門(テクニカル)領域は、ソフトサイエンス(経済学・政治学・心理学など)やハードサイエンス(自然科学)、コンピュータとソフトウェアを含むハイテク、家電やビジネスプロセス、商慣習などいかなる領域も含むことができる。
2006年に、Scott, Longo, Wills (SUNY) は、かれらの編集コレクションCritical Power Tools,'で、テクニカルコミュニケーションは教養科目のレンズを通して、最小限のテクニカルコミュニケーションは非常に実用的な立場をとって解析されるべきだと提案した。テクニカルコミュニケーションの仕事は以下を含む:
- テクニカルライター
- テクニカルエディター
- テクニカルイラストレーション
- テクになる イラストレータ
- 情報アーキテクト
- ユーザビリティエキスパート
- ユーザインタフェースデザイナー
- テクニカル トレーナー
目次 |
[編集] コンテンツ制作
テクニカルコミュニケーションはときどき、専門従業員を雇うか、かれらのニーズをコミュニケーション協会へアウトソーシングする専門的タスクを考慮に入れている。例えば、プロフェッショナルライター(職業ライター)はユーザマニュアルを作成するために会社で働くかも知れない。時には、テクニカルコミュニケーションは、 彼らが同僚や顧客に技術情報を伝えるために働くものとして日常的にテクニカルプロフェッショナルが雇う責任と見なされることもある。例えば、計算機科学者は、同僚のプログラマや顧客ソフトウェアドキュメンテーションを必要としているかも知れない。
テクニカルコミュニケーションでの開発する情報製品のプロセスは、顧客の性質と彼らの情報欲求が明かに知られることを確かにすることで始まる。そこからテクニカルコミュニケーターは研究し、詳細な開発に導くフレームワークにコンテンツを構築する。情報製品が開発され、最終目標は、コンテンツが、対象とする顧客によって明確に理解され、顧客が必要とするより体裁に適した形式の情報を提供することを確かにすることである。このプロセスはときどきThe Writing Process(書き込み過程)と呼ばれる (Pfeiffer と Boogerd)。
テクニカルライティングプロセスは5つのステップに分けられる:
- 目的と顧客を見つけ出す。
- 情報収集。
- 情報を整理し要点をまとめる。
- 最初のドラフトを書く。
- 改訂と編集をする。
[編集] 目的と顧客を見つけ出す
All technical communication is done with a particular end in mind. The purpose is usually to facilitate the communication of ideas and concepts to the audience, but may sometimes be used to direct the audience in a particular course of action. The purpose may be something as simple as having the audience understand the details of some technological system, or to take a particular action using that system.For example, if the workers in a bank were not properly posting deposits to accounts, someone would write the procedure so these workers might have the correct procedure. Similarly, a sales manager might wonder which of two sites would be a more appropriate choice for a new store, so he would ask someone to study the market and write a report with the recommendations. The sales manager would distribute the report to all parties involved in making that decision.In each of these instances, the person who is writing is transferring knowledge from the person who knows to the person who needs to know. This is the basic definition of technical communication
The most commonly used form of technical communication is technical writing. Examples of technical writing include: project proposals, persuasive memos, technical manuals, and users' guides. Such materials should typically present an (informal) argument and be written diplomatically. A user's guide for an electronic device typically includes diagrams along with detailed textual explanations. The purpose should serve as a goal that the writer strives toward in writing.
The identification of the audience will affect many aspects of communication, from word selection and graphics usage to style and organization. A non-technical audience will not understand, or worse yet, even read a document that is heavy with jargon, while a technical audience may crave extra detail because it is critical for their work. Busy audiences will not have time to read an entire document, so content must be organized for ease of searching, for example by the frequent inclusion of headers, white space and other cues that guide attention. Other requirements will vary on the needs of the particular audience.
Identification of multiple audiences indicates that multiple concepts may need to be communicated, and Pfeiffer and Boogerd suggest planning for this situation by first identifying the following for each audience:
- 目的
- 必要とされる情報
- 学歴
With this information, important needs can be satisfied in a way that caters to all. If this is not possible, audiences may be prioritized by importance, and serving important audiences first. Remaining audiences can be served by including clearly denoted content within the text, such as the advanced topic sidebars that frequently occur in user's guides.
[編集] 情報収集
The next step is to collect information needed for accomplishing the stated purpose. Information may be collected via primary research, where the technical communicator conducts research first-hand, and secondary research, where work published by another person is used as an information source. The technical communicator must acknowledge all sources used to produce his or her work. To ensure that this is done, the technical communicator should distinguish quotations, paraphrases, and summaries when taking notes.
[編集] 情報を整理し要点をまとめる
Before writing the intial draft, it is important to organize all the ideas in a way that will make the document flow nicely. A good way of doing this is to write all random thoughts down on a paper, and then circle all main sections, connect the main sections to supporting ideas with lines, and delete all irrelevant material.
Once each idea is organized, the writer can then organize the document as a whole. This can be accomplished in various ways:
- Chronological: This is used for documents that involve a linear process, such as a step-by-step guide describing how to accomplish something.
- Parts of an object: Used for documents which describe the parts of an object, such as a graphic showing the parts of a computer (keyboard, monitor, mouse, etc)
- Simple to Complex (or vice versa): Starts with the easy to understand ideas, and gradually goes more in-depth with complex ideas.
- Specific to General: Starts with many ideas, and then organizes the ideas into sub-categories
- General to Specific: Starts with a few categories of ideas, and then goes more in-depth.
Once the whole document is organized, it's a good idea to create a final outline, which will show all the ideas in an easy to understand document. Creating an outline makes the entire writing process much easier and will save the author time.
[編集] 最初のドラフトを書く
After the outline is completed, the next step is to write the first draft. The goal is to write down ideas from the outline as quickly as possible. Setting aside blocks of one hour or more, in a place free of distractions, will help the writer maintain a flow. Also, the writer should wait until the draft is complete to do any revising; stopping to revise at this stage will break the writer's flow. The writer should start with the section that is easiest for them, and write the summary only after the body is drafted.
[編集] 改訂と編集
Once the initial draft is laid out, editing and revising must be done to fine tune the draft into a final copy. Four tasks transform the early draft into its final form, suggested by Pfeiffer and Boogard:
Adjust and reorganizing content
During this step, go back to your draft to 1) focus or elaborate on certain topics which deserve more attention, 2) shorten other sections, and 3) shift around certain paragraphs, sentences, or entire topics.
Edit for style
Style refers to changes that make the writing more interesting, appealing, or more readable. Some changes are made by choice, not for correctness, and may include:
- shorten paragraphs
- rearrange paragraphs
- change passive-voice sentences to an active voice
- shorten sentences
- define technical terms
- add headings, lists, graphics
Edit for grammar
At this point, you can start looking through the document for grammatical errors, such as comma usage and common word mixups (for example, there/their/they're). To get the most out of this step, pay special attention to mistakes which you have repeatedly made in your previous writing.
[編集] 参考文献
Gerson, Sharon, and Steve Gerson. Technical Writing: Process and Product. Columbus, OH: Pearson, 2007.
Johnson-Sheehan, Richard. Technical Communication Today. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006.
Pfeiffer, William S. and Jan Boogerd. Technical Writing: A Practical Approach. 4th Canadian Edition. Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 2007.
[編集] 関連
- Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (UK)
- Society for Technical Communication (USA) [1] (Japan) [2]
- Association of Teachers of Technical Writing [3]
- Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication [4]
- IEEE PCS [5]
- INTECOM [6]
- KnowGenesis [7]
- Technical Communicators Association of New Zealand [8]
[編集] 外部リンク
- IEEE Professional Communication Society
- KnowGenesis - International Journal for Technical Communication
- The Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
- Docsymmetry
- EServer Technical Communication (and Technical Writing) Library
- KeyContent.org
- TECHWR-L, The Internet Forum for Technical Communication
- MITWA (Mentors, Indexers, Technical Writers & Associates)Online resource for Professional Technical Communicators)
- What is technical communication? An FAQ by Thomas Albert
- TechCommPros (online resource and email list for Professional Technical Communicators)\
- A theory of presentation and its implications for the design of online technical documentation Looks at technical communication and the role of off- as well as online documents in a problem-solving context (service engineering department)
- The Writers Block TWB is an information source with several whitepapers, case studies and trainings available on technical communication
[編集] 関連項目
- テクニカルコミュニケーション (フォーラム)
- テクニカルコミュニケーションツール
- インフォグラフィック
