1. 1. FUTURE OF TECHNICAL WRITING Mak Pandit mak@technowrites.com
2. 2. IN THIS SESSION Future of Career Future of tools Future of processes Ideas to ponder upon 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 2
3. 3. ABOUT ME Mak Pandit 20+ years in Technical Communication MD Technowrites, Director Zetaversity Associate Fellow STC Past President STC India Past Owner TWIN 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 3
4. 4. RECAP OF IMPORTANT CHANGES IN LAST 15 YEARS India saw influx of investments and increase in offshore development facilities Global teams Indian managers managing global projects Lay-offs in the west (also started in India) New careers being created, in spite of lack of formal education (Technical Writing, ID, User Experience, Product Evangelists) Careers settling down (jobs stabilizing) 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 4
5. 5. OBVIOUS CHANGES Communities are users platforms of choice Cloud is the platform of choice Ever-increasing use of Devices More Apps Increase in number of users some of them never used technology before Users getting smarter some of them already knowing competitive products Users preparing documents themselves User Generated Content Videos, Discussions, Blogs, Mailing Lists Increasing popularity of open-source applications Changes in design/development/manufacturing processes 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 5
6. 6. SUBTLE CHANGES Communities opening up more and more Users relying on Data Security Different configurations of cloud are available (including Public, Private, Cloud-in-a-box, Hybrid, and so on) Open-source has caught up with premium products, and may lead them soon Overall team-size has shrunk Development life-cycle has shrunk Marketing has become focused and thinner Virtualization is increasing 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 6
7. 7. CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES Developing users interest Making product available through devices and cloud Searching content and making sense of it (Web 3.0: Semantic Web) Going beyond text 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 7
8. 8. FUTURE OF CONTENT Multi-authored Reused Minimalized Structured User generated Intelligent Rated Scaled Curated Auto-updated Amalgamated 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 8
9. 9. FUTURE OF PROCESSES Group-authoring (sharing, searching, managing, tracking) Cloud-based authoring, reviewing, publishing (using cloud-based tools like CMS, Wikis) Media-dependent workflows (different inputs, tools, and deliverables) 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 9
10. 10. FUTURE OF TOOLS Open-source Cloud-based Open-standard (epub3, html, xml, DocBook, DITA) SaaS Pricing 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 10
11. 11. FUTURE OF CAREER ID & TW have merged Content Writing is merging In select cases, localization/translation will merge Penetration & spread of all writing careers will increase Videos producers, Marketing collateral authors will be in demand User Experience Designers will be sought after Proposal Writing will be in demand Increased freelancing opportunities (enabled by shrinking team sizes and availability of open-source tools) 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 11
12. 12. THINK OF ADDING THESE TO YOUR SKILLS Business knowhow Testing skills Sound/Video Recording & Editing skills Presentation skills User Interaction skills Technical knowhow (SEO, Internet Advertising, Virtualization) Information research & analysis (RSS Feeds, Big Data, Analytics) Freelancing 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 12
13. 13. IDEAS TO PONDER Will everything be possible for everyone Will the jobs of pure technical writers be in danger Should one learn to author in more than one language Will you be able to take the part-time freelance work 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 13
14. 14. QUESTIONS? Mail your questions to mak@technowrites.com 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 14
15. 15. THANK YOU Feel free to give feedback and inputs mak@technowrites.com Send me a mail and I will share the links with you 23-Aug-14(c) 2014. Mak Pandit. 15