Mondragon Unibertsitatea launches the first course on Technical Communication aimed at managers of technical publications

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Mondragon Unibertsitatea launches the first course on Technical Communication aimed at managers of technical publications

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Mondragon Unibertsitatea launches the first course on Technical Communication aimed at managers of technical publications

Technical publications – including installation, operation and maintenance manuals, software guides, and spare parts catalogues – are necessary in many sectors, but only a few organisations are aware of the importance of their effective communication.

2019·03·28

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The 3-day course on Technical Communication in Practice will be held on 12-14 June on the Orona-Ideo (Hernani) campus of Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa. The sessions will be held from 9 am to 5 pm and are aimed at after-sales managers, technical content managers and technical communicators (technical writers), as they are responsible for designing, managing, editing, translating, publishing and distributing the technical publications.  

Many organisations treat technical publications as a toll to pay for the sale of their product or service, but if a product user does not find the information they need, or if the information they receive is not sufficiently understandable, the publication will fail to meet its objective.  

The 3-day course on Technical Communication aims to provide an initial answer to address its main elements (day 1), its strategic aspects (day 2,) and the most advanced developments currently in progress (day 3).

Main elements

The first factor to be considered by product manufacturers is that they are required by law to provide product information containing instructions for safe handling. The consequences of failure to follow the legal and regulatory requirements may involve compensation at astronomical amounts, which may cause the closure of a business. 

Another main element of a technical publication is its usefulness to ensure that users are able to perform the actions and make the decisions needed at home. Texts that are not useful may present, among other issues, readability and/or comprehensibility problems, which can be solved with professional writing techniques. 

The design of the graphic illustrations is another important point that must be addressed, as it may lead to erroneous interpretations. Defining the convenience, features, user capabilities and selecting the right software are steps that should not be neglected. 

Content strategy

Content is everything that a company communicates and publishes, from the user manuals of its products, through marketing materials and corporate websites, to the responses of the answering machine. Depending on the case, contents may have a different structure, purpose, tone and audience, but it often happens that nobody pays attention to these aspects or takes control of their production.

Working on customer experience maps, conversation maps, structuring content to ensure reusability, and providing a multichannel system facilitates the effectiveness of the messages that are transmitted to users. It is also convenient to measure the impact of the content and follow it up.

Information 4.0

Industry 4.0 is a reality, but it requires many changes in organisations also in the field of Technical Communication. The key is how contents should coexist in organisations that work with Industry 4.0 to ensure a content management that is molecular, dynamic, offered instead of delivered, ubiquitous (online and localisable), spontaneous, and automatically profiled. 

Methodology

Methodology The key concepts of the content strategy will be introduced, with a participatory approach based on exercises and debates based on the experience of the attendees. The objective is to develop a different vision of the role of content in a company and have the motivation and sufficient tools to start the design of a content strategy in the workplace.

More information and registration in the course:

Technical Communication in Practice