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Pattern recognition is one of the essential mental strategies for acquiring and disseminating knowledge, though most of us are not aware of it. This presentation aims to help technical communicators think about how they can employ pattern recognition processes to develop their own documentation and user assistance. The presentation combines the wit and wisdom of a cognitive psychologist and a technical writer who draw on examples and evidence in their respective fields to show: What pattern recognition is and how it works Which mental strategies we employ without knowing it How technical communicators can employ those strategies Making sense of new subject matter Starting to build new documentation Designing and structuring documentation Supporting users efficiently
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PATTERN RECOGNITION
FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS
Kai Weber (@techwriterkai)
& Chris Atherton (@finiteattention)
22 September 2011
TCUK 11
WHO ARE WE AND WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Kai Weber
@techwriterkai
Technical writer since 1988
Senior Technical Writer at
SimCorp, CPH, since 2008
Coach, trainer, mentor
M.A. in American Studies
Chris Atherton
@finiteattention
User experience consultant
Mendeley, Skype, academia
Incurable cross-disciplinarian
Ph.D. in Cognitive
Neuroscience
OUR MISSION
Helping you understand what you do …
… so you can do what you do, better.
WHAT IS PATTERN RECOGNITION?
http://livinglifewithchemobrain.blogspot.com/2011/03/apparitions-on-toast.html
WHAT IS PATTERN RECOGNITION?
Don’t believe that your brain is optimised to
create patterns from apparent chaos? Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVkdfJ9PkRQ
WHAT IS PATTERN RECOGNITION?
Examples rules
TOO ABSTRACT! HOW ABOUT AN EXAMPLE?
Aardvark, J.R. (1980). Ants, and how to eat them.
Journal of Orycteropodidae Studies, 80, 11-17.
Barker, R. (1982). Rum babas, and what to do if you’ve got them.
Reading: Goodnight From Him.
Haley, W. (1955). Rock Around The Clock. New York: Decca.
Izzard, E. (1998). Cake or Death? Gateaunomics, 10, 195-196.
Lemur, R.-T. (2010). Strepsirrhinoplasty. Antananarivo: Raft
Press.
Leonard, E. (1996). Out of Sight. New York: Harper.
Shorty, G. (in press). Okay, so they got me. Los Angeles: Cadillac.
What is this? What are the structures and rules here?
RECOGNISED PATTERNS AND RULES
Aardvark, J.R. (1980). Ants, and how to eat them.
Journal of Orycteropodidae Studies, 80, 11-17.
Barker, R. (1982). Rum babas, and what to do if you’ve got them.
Reading: Goodnight From Him. …
1. Last name, initial(s).
2. (Year of publication).
3. If journal article: 1. Title of article.
2. Title of journal, volume number, page numbers.
4. If book: 1. Title.
2. City: Publisher.
SO HOW DO WE ACQUIRE THESE RULES?
By rote
or
By acquiring data (a.k.a. experience)
IMPLICIT VS. EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink. London: Penguin.
http://www.gladwell.com/blink/index.html
WHY SHOULD TECH COMMUNICATORS CARE?
We do it anyway…
1. When we gather information
Reading specs and designs
Interviewing subject-matter experts
2. When we create and order information
Write topics
Structure topics into deliverables
WHY SHOULD TECH COMMUNICATORS CARE?
We do it anyway, so we might as well do it smartly!
If we make sense of our subjects more efficiently…
If we structure better what we need to convey…
… we can provide better documentation!
THE PATTERN RECOGNITION EXPERIENCE
M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T
BUT HOW DO WE REACH THAT “AHA!” MOMENT?
* * * * ! *
PERCEIVING PATTERNS
* d
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* * *
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PERCEIVING PATTERNS
* d
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* * *
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PERCEIVING PATTERNS
* d
* d d
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* * *
d d
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PERCEIVING PATTERNS
* d
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* * *
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HOW DOES PATTERN RECOGNITION WORK?
Bottom-up processing
Experiencing
Acquiring
Matching
Segmenting
… building up a representation.
But that requires lots of “data”, so…
WHAT IS THIS? HOW DO YOU KNOW?
HOW DOES PATTERN RECOGNITION WORK?
Top-down processing
Knowing
Generalising
Contextualising
Applying
… searching for confirmation.
HOW DOES PATTERN RECOGNITION WORK?
Top-down
Uses prior knowledge
Concepts elements
Emphasises context
Quick; sometimes wrong
Bottom-up
No prior knowledge
Elements concepts
Emphasises relations
Slow; usually correct
WHAT IS THIS?
WHAT IS THIS? IT’S ART...
Martin Boyce:
Untitled, 2002.
WHAT IS THIS? IT’S PART OF THE SAME CHAIR!
Martin Boyce: Arne Jacobsen:
Untitled, 2002. Chair 3107, c.1952.
It is the back side of the chair where the back rest
turns into the seat, with two holes cut in and turned by 90°.
HOW DOES PATTERN RECOGNITION WORK?
Top-down
Uses prior knowledge
Concepts elements
Emphasises context
Quick; sometimes wrong
Bottom-up
No prior knowledge
Elements concepts
Emphasises relations
Slow; usually correct
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To make sense of unknown subject matter
To overcome tech writer’s block and start writing
To chunk topics and find reuse opportunities
To help your readers
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To make sense of unknown subject matter
If you have scattered, unreliable information…
Gather all puzzle pieces and work bottom up.
Tease out similarities until you have segments.
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To make sense of unknown subject matter
If you have structured legacy documentation…
Go through topic structure and analyse top down.
Test reliability and completeness top-down.
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To overcome writer’s block and start writing
If you lack full, consistent information…
Start bottom-up with similar “seeds” as templates.
Describe first what hangs together well.
Making caffe latte
1. Grind coffee.
2. Steam milk and ¾ fill a latte glass.
3. Make the espresso and pour it in.
4. Top the drink with steamed milk.
5. Clean the steamer.
About Italian coffee
1. Espresso
2. Cappuccino
3. Caffe latte
Making hot chocolate
1. Pour chocolate into glass or cup
2. Steam the milk and pour in.
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To chunk topics and find reuse opportunities
If you have a bunch of similar information or topics
Identify how you can segment topics for reuse.
Especially for similar procedures and reference info.
About Italian coffee
1. Espresso
2. Cappuccino
3. Caffe latte
Making hot chocolate
1. Pour chocolate into glass or cup
2. Steam the milk and pour in.
Making caffe latte
1. Grind coffee.
2. Steam milk and ¾ fill a latte glass.
3. Make the espresso and pour it in.
4. Top the drink with steamed milk.
5. Clean the steamer.
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To help your readers
… orient themselves in your documentation.
Tables of contents, no patterns left, with patterns right.
1. Setting up the Trade Manager
1.1 Set up a portfolio
1.2 Set up bank accounts
1.3 Set up counterparties
2. Registering transactions
2.1 Enter common transaction data
2.2 Enter a stock transaction
2.3 Enter a bond transaction
2.4 Enter a derivative transaction
1. General Settings window
1.1 Assets in a portfolio
1.2 Different bank accounts
1.3 About counterparties
2. The Transaction window
2.1 Transaction window
2.2 Stock trading
2.3 Trading bonds
2.4 Futures and other derivatives
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To help your readers
… grasp individual topics quickly
Structure similar items similarly for easy recognition.
Use the same order of elements, e.g., in procedures:
Introduction
Prerequisites
Procedure
Results
Exception handling
Apply parallelism in lists
Enter a stock transaction
Open the Stock Dealer window.
1. Enter common transaction data.
2. Enter the stock exchange.
3. Optionally, enter the stock series.
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To help your readers
… get the most out of navigation aids
Table of contents is a top-down aid
Offer a coherent, consistent structure
Assume and honour trust in the system
Search and index are bottom-up aids
Support not only exact matches, but also similar terms
Make search results indicative by heading alone
PATTERN RECOGNITION IN TECH COMM
To help your readers
… in ways only you know how!
<audience brainstorm>
FINAL WORDS OF ADVICE AND WARNING
Keep your customers – and your job – safe!
Apophenia: Humans are addicted to meaning.
Some patterns refuse to be recognized
Pattern recognition occurs in contexts
Creating tech comm is often a top-down process…
... but using it is often bottom-up!
THANK YOU! KEEP IN TOUCH!
Kai Weber
@techwriterkai
kaiweber.wordpress.com/
Chris Atherton
@finiteattention
about.me/cjatherton
