Technical writing and instructional design

I recently retired but while Flink, Inc was active I provided technical writing and instructional design services. Some of the better known clients I worked for include Adobe, Oracle, Sony, eBay, PayPal, Nokia, Intuit, and HP.

This article describes some of the types of content I created during my career and how to learn more about becoming a tech writer or instructional designer.

Technical writing

Technical writing includes:

• User Guides
• Getting Started, Quick Start, Visual Quick Start guides
• Programmer, Administration or System Admin Guides
• White papers
• API, SDK or other reference guides
• Product specifications
• Planning documents (documentation planning, product specification)
• FAQs

One of my favorite resources to learn more about technical writing, is the beginners section in the blog I'd Rather Be Writing. This blog is great resource to follow at any stage in a technical writing career.

To learn more about becoming a technical writer, look for courses at a community college, university extension, or online courses.

Instructional Design

Instructional design includes creating the following types of print, online, or instructor-led content:

• Tutorials
• Embedded tutorials (built into the product)
• Product training
• Train the trainer content
• Training videos or animation
• Participant course materials (this may be documentation or source data used for exercises)

While there are many resources to learn more about instructional design, one I recommend is following Luke Hobson at his site or on LinkedIn.

To learn about becoming an instructional designer, look for a certificate course, or in my case, I got a masters degree in instructional design from San Francisco State University. I notice they have an online degree now.