English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

My project is a website, please visit the link below to view the instructions.

http://www.emilstefanov.net/Temporary/PurdueCourseSearchAppInstructions/

Please complete the usability test below by replying to this blog entry.

One of the main insights to make about the reading on usability is that it is important to analyze the document and how it can be tested. I do just that:

My graphics are in the thumbnail documents. There are two: for novices and for experts.

One of the best approaches is to use as many different techniques to convey meaning to the user as possible. The techniques involve arrangement of style of text, visual aids, plots, and photographs. I can certainly vouch for the importance of such techniques in my line of work: software engineering. Programs usually consist of millions of lines of cryptic looking code. Nobody can understand all that code without proper instructions. One example comes to mind:

http://alperdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/net-framework-35-types-an...

I have a lot of personal experience with reading and writing instructions. I do a lot of things with computers and I very often times have to read instructions on how to accomplish something. Often times, my friends ask me for help with their computer over the phone or IM and I have to give them instructions on how to fix their computer. This reminds me of a scene from the show The IT Crowd. You can watch the episode here:

http://www.channel4.com/video/the-it-crowd/series-1/episode-1/customer-s...

Dear Employer,

I am a perfect match for your Software Engineer position at CRA’s Boston branch. I have eight years of experience programming in C# and I led an extensive research project at Purdue University on algorithms for data mining stock market information. Additionally, I am a very self driven and distinguished individual who can advance CRA’s financial software package.