RANT - Another pet peeve (long)

[WLee]

It happens a lot. Two of our friends are - or I should say used to be - technical writers and illustrators. No more. The work has either been delegated to engineers or outsourced.

Yup, you got it spot on there.

Part of the problem is 3D -- over the years whenever engineers wanted to get a new CAD system, they always justified it partly on the basis that "Our engineers will be able to do the exploded view and assembly drawings, we won't need the tech illustrators and writers anymore -- just think of the money we'll save!" (Never mind that illustrating/writing and engineering are two different disciplines, much less the fact that engineers are MUCH more expensive per hour than any tech artist/writer ever was -- that was the justification).

To completely foul everything up, ISO-9000 came along with the BS that every step of assembly in factories should be "dumbed down" (meaning "pictographs" and exploded views -- absolutely minimal text) -- then add in the CE standards (Europe) requiring that and text instructions be translated (expen$ive) into half a dozen languages (and guess how cheap it can be if they are "wordless" with pics & symbols only!!).

Add in the final straw of the whole deal was when the ISO-9000 and the picto-assembly allows them to outsource the manufacturing (and further engineering) out of the country (Engrish anyone?)... once they get their hands on "updating" the documents, heaven help anyone trying to figure any of it out.

(BTW, if I sound *pissed* its because for years I owned & ran a Tech Publications agency, doing REALLY excellent work [if you've ever used an official Simplicity Lawn/Garden Tractor Service/Repair Manual on any of the units from the 1980's & 90's era units -- that's some of my/our work] -- then that kind of work virtually disappeared and a lot of my clients went all "penny-wise and pound-foolish" and started throwing whatever DTP and CAD and quite frankly not giving a dang about accuracy or quality in their manuals anymore.)

[WLee]

So-called 'technical writing' today is pathetic!

That's because most of it no longer done by REAL 'technical writers/illustrators' anymore.

Most of us were forced out of the business by penny-pinching, CAD, and Desktop publishing (not to mention LBO's and shipping of plants/engineering overseas).

Trust me, people like me who used to do tech writing/illustrating for commercial & consumer products are even MORE appalled at the current state of things (we get dry heaves when we even glance at most of what are called "manuals" and "instructions" these days -- the only exception I can think of being the Haynes manuals for auto/truck repair, and even those aren't as good as they once were).

[WLee]

Yeah, tech writing! Reminds me when years ago (many) a supervisor asked me to write a procedure for starting up an emergency generator. Part of the procedure was to "pull out the choke when starting". I, however did not put in the part to push the choke back in after the engine started. I was reminded that not all people would know to push the choke in after starting. I had just assumed everyone would know to do that. Instuctions need to be written for a 40 IQ or less!

GOOD tech writers know their audience -- which means if it is for general consumer (versus professionals -- i.e. in-house manuals), then you assume they know NOTHING (beyond basic English, and these days sometimes not even that).

Which makes the manuals very pedantic (just like computer help desk -- you HAVE to ask "Did you turn the computer on? (NOT just the monitor... I mean jeez!)" and "Is the unit plugged into the wall?" and even "Is the light switch for the room OFF by any chance?") You tend to cringe when you write some of this stuff, but it HAS to be done that way. (BTW the worst is if you don't tell them to reinstall the oil-drain plug after changing the oil -- one company I know got sued and LOST the case because the manual was "missing" that step in a particular owner's manual!)

I remember with another company, the "newbie" writers would always want to get rid of the picture of the tire showing how to use the tire-gauge to save space -- and I always had to tell them that the picture was ABSOLUTELY necessary, if only because that was how most people found the "Recommended Tire Pressures" page when flipping through the manual (even though it was always listed in two other places as well). And in addition, with some customers they sadly WOULDN'T know how to use the gauge otherwise, so the 3 square inches for the illustration was well worth it.

[Mr__Bill]

A while back I was passing an IKEA store and parked across from the exit was a pickup truck with a large sign in the back: I Can Assemble IKEA Furniture with a phone number to call. The folks with me thought it was a good idea seeing as how it was so complicated to assemble those things. IKEA is one of the few who has reasonably good instructions but I imagine he had a lot of business.

I was once asked to assemble and entertainment center for a woman. She and her daughter had carted home several heavy boxes, opened them and cleaned every piece and removed those pesky stickers from every one. She had several piles of particle board in her living room and a bowl of parts. Again she had opened all the packages and counted to make sure they were all there and then dumped them in the bowl. To make things perfect the instruction book was a poor blurred copy in NO language, only pictures, arrows and of course every thing was referenced by sticker code, no dementions and not to scale.

I declined the offer.

Bill,

[docrowan]

On the other end of the spectrum from the no text at all, you have the pages and pages of lawyer warnings. Don't use electrical appliances in the bathtub! Don't shove a sharp object in your eye! Don't forget to breathe or you may pass out! It's not so bad when they put those idiot warnings on the first 6 pages and then the rest of the manual is relatively clear of them (most HF electrical tool manuals do this). I really hate the manuals that constantly fling in big type in the middle of the flow of instructions warnings to not do something incredibly stupid.

Grrr. Okay I'm over it now.

Okay, while I'm on it my rant - what's with the labels on raw meat that say don't undercook it or you may get sick? I mean, how long have people been eating meat? And this is America - up until a few years ago if you didn't know how to cook meat most people thought you were really weird. And these days there are cooking shows 24/7 that are always telling you to cook your meat.

Grr. Okay, I'm really over it now. I promise.

[herb fellows]

WLee, certainly no offense meant or implied to real technical writers. As you say, it is now an afterthought that they think anyone can do. That is so wrong!

[WLee]

WLee, certainly no offense meant or implied to real technical writers. As you say, it is now an afterthought that they think anyone can do. That is so wrong!

Actually, that's pretty much always been the case (that everyone thinks they can do it) -- what DTP and CAD have done is give people "power-tools" to inflict their garbage on a wider public. (Whereas before you had to have at least part of a clue in order to get things typeset, printed, get artwork camera-ready, photos airbrushed & half-toned, etc).

And, with "management" becoming ever more clueless, anything that used multiple "fonts" is deemed to be a finished product. Proofreading? What's that?

[BobSch]

... Proofreading? What's that?

But...but I spell-checked it!

I halve a spelling checker
It came with my pee see
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I dew knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait aweigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the era rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

I've scent this massage threw it,
And I'm shore your pleased too no
Its letter prefect in every weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

[WLee]

But...but I spell-checked it!

I halve a spelling checker
It came with my pee see
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I dew knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait aweigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the era rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

I've scent this massage threw it,
And I'm shore your pleased too no
Its letter prefect in every weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

You got it.

The WORST spelling and grammar I ever got was from "tech writers" were who had 4-5 year Bachelor's Degrees (English Major no less -- I hired one good writer actually in spite of his degree, because he had worked all through high-school in the service department of one of our largest dealers, and therefore knew our product inside and out [and perhaps even more importantly, the inadequacies of the company setup, operating, and service literature] -- he more or less wasted his time & money going to college, because I would have hired him straight out of HS [not really, because I hadn't been at the firm then, so I guess it resolved the "timing" issue] ).

I had to correct (and slowly train him) in the "professional" aspect of writing/publishing AND in spelling/grammar, etc (the very thing you would THINK a young college grad would not have problems with). But it was well worth the "remedial" part because his direct knowledge and experience with our equipment (and it's problems "in the field" both for dealers/mechanics AND customers) was simply invaluable -- we produced some of the best product literature around during those years (we got LOTS of compliments from dealers when they finally realized how the lit was improving in quality) -- and it was due in no small part to hiring him.

[cwsmith]

Sorry for the length of this, but I've been a technical illustrator for more than 40 years, getting my first professional job in 1966, at the ripe age of 22. I had wanted to be a draftsman, but with only a high school degree that was just about impossible. So, in 1965 I quite my job, in order to qualify for a state sponsored night program in tool design. About halfway through the six-month training session, my instructor asked if there were any of us interested in trying out for a technical illustrator job with a local sub-contract company. At the time, I had no idea what a "technical illustrator" did, but it was a chance to make some extra cash in the morning and still attend the night classes.

Three of us tried out for the job and after a couple of months I was the only one remaining. Our "trial" was to work on an existing contract to illustrate the IBM 029 keypunch machine. There were no assembly prints and IBM had provided the company with a keypunch machine and some component drawings. The contract required us to tear the machine apart, noting the order of disassembly, match the components to the detail drawings and then produce an exploded-view, illustrated parts catalog. It was sort of a "kick", as some of the castings were very complex with odd angles, ribbing, and gear and bevel bossings. I still have the pencil layout of the card feeder that was my first illlustration.

In those first weeks and months, I learned the value of detail. The project demanded detail and illustration team demanded that every drawing be graphically correct and near perfect to scale as possible. Exploded views had to be accurate with regard to assembly order and path, and of course the components had to be easily identified and distinquishable enough to differenciate from similar parts. It was, to say the least, a great learning experience for me.

Back then, all the work was on the drawing board with vellum and pencil which was then ink traced onto linen. I loved the work and at the end of the tool design school, I just went full time as an illustrator doing exploded-view illustrated parts catalogs for IBM, Ingersoll-Rand, and a few companies like GAF, U.S. Textile, and General Electric. While most of the work was parts catalogs, I also found opportunity to do artists' concepts of engineering projects and even a bit of cartooning for Ford Rotunda and Ingersoll-Rand air tools.

In 1973, I went to work for a large air compressor manufacturer. That lasted until 1982 when business went bad and the division moved south. I then spent two years on my own as a freelance illustrator and writer, doing subcontract work for Corning Glass (optical wave guide manufacturing processes), Hilliard (air starters), Hardinge (machine tools), Sunmaster (solar heating), Vilter (rotary compressors), ABB Traction (Baltimore Light Rail System), and an assortment of smaller companies and Ad agencies. Every project brought an opportunity to add new skills and over the years I found myself capable or doing almost any facet of the business, including photo illustration, graphic design, slide production, desktop publishing, and even database design.

In 1984 I was asked to return to the compressor manufacturer, working for their process gas division as an illustrator/publication specialist. By the end of the decade I had moved almost all of our production to the PC, including word processing, illustration, and publishing. In the mid-90's I moved to Marketing where I designed a centralized product history database and a global reporting system to aid sales. More important to me was the opportunity to do high end, fully rendered color illustrations and graphic design work for product brochures and presentations. I retired in 2003, when corporate discovered I didn't have the degree that was required for my level of work. (I have noticed that they haven't produced a single illustration or product brochure for my division since my parting!)

I suppose the point of all this is that I had many great opportunities and was helped by some great people who were willing to take a chance on me. I've learned a lot along the way and was able to expand my skills by through a variety of projects for many different companies. There were certainly some hurdles, but I loved the challenges that illustrating and writing offered me.

I attribute most of my success to the fact that, beyond the first few years, I never wrote or illustrated anything without gaining a good understanding of the subject. I always figured that my lack of education was an advantage in that I needed to "dig deep" in order to fully comprehend the particulars of a project and then be able to communicate that to the reader, even if they only had a grade school education.

To write and illustrate successfully, I found the factory worker to be a better source of information than just "Engineering" alone. Likewise, there's no better place for final approval then the service and repair people who depended on my work. I found this to be true early in my career, when I was visiting a factory assembly area. I noticed a mounting bracket that was positioned in the wrong place. Stupidly, I pointed out the error to the elderly assembly worker and was met with, "Look sonny, those engineers can do it anyway they want, but when it gets on my floor, I've got to make the thing work!" After that, I always insisted that I visit the factory and get first hand information with my camera, sketch pad, and a lot of conversation with the guys doing the work.

Technical writers and illustrators do not always have the benefit of such exchanges, or the opportunity to spend time in the shop. Office and management demands often leave them relying mostly on Engineering and whatever notes they've taken in product meetings. Combine that with writers whose prime objective seems to be impressing the reader with their vocabulary skills, and you've got a manual which any lawyer would love prosecute in court.

Writers and illustrators are often challenged by management to keep things as simple as possible in an effort to minimize the cost. While it's certainly necessary to keep the boss happy, I've never refrained from letting them know that the product and the customer deserved better. I've always felt that my responsibility must be to the customer, providing support literature that was as clear and precise as possible.

The effort to minimize the cost has driven many illustrators and writers out of the business. Too often considered an unessasary expense, good illustration has lost out to reconfiguring of CAD layouts. Lost are those instructional details and highlights that a good illustrator might present to the reader. Likewise, technical writers have fallen into the same catagory, being replaced by engineers who are already on staff and easily tapped for the writing chore. But from my experience, most engineers aren't particularly good at writing instructions; and personally, I always looked at it as a terrible waste of a good engineers time.

Bottom line is that I think the profession has seriously suffered in most industries. I was lucky to start out with a good company, learn from some very good people, and then had many opportunities to practice and enhance my skills through a wide variety of work. After more than forty years in the business, I'm still learning and find myself in awe of some to the high-end stuff that I see being done with 3-D rendering programs. But many of the common line illustrations used in instruction manuals and parts lists are very poorly done. But that's been the case since my earliest memories. It's a real challenge to convince a company that good product literature is a worthwhile expense. Part of the problem to, is that technical illustration is not high on the education list with colleges and trade schools and making a living at it can be challenging.

The other part of the problem is that in today's business, every job gets tagged with some level of education requirement. In the case of illustrating and writing, it's usually a BA. Even after more than 40 years of experience, I wouldn't be able to get an interview because the HR computer scan won't detect a BA in my digital resume'. Fortunately, freelancers usually don't get asked such narrow-minded questions.

CWS

[Uncle Cracker]

The other part of the problem is that in today's business, every job gets tagged with some level of education requirement.

This is because, in today's business environment, a company can usually get a person with a degree for about the same salary as somebody without one. Solution: Start a business and hire yourself...

I have also seen a trend in my own industry of hiring people for technical management positions solely because they had an MBA, even though they knew nothing about the products or even about the industry. No solution for that one, except sit back and watch the offending companies get what's coming to them.