Role of Technical Writers Industry 4.0

The Information 4.0 Writer

The changes that are happening in Industry 4.0 will change the role of the technical writer. How and When are the questions to be answered. As technical writers we explain things, processes, and how to perform tasks. With Industry 4.0 that will continue but the technologies we write about and those that we use will change along with Industry 4.0. Information 4.0 is the change in technical writing that corresponds with Industry 4.0; the trends and technology that will make technical writing possible. Information 4.0 brings technical writing to a highly advanced technical level.

How will Content Change

Because Industry 4.0 is beginning now, Information 4.0 is only a concept. We do not have all the answers to how to create materials, what tools (do the tools even exist), or what materials to create. Preparation is our best ally in this phase. We can evaluate what we know now, and we can plan for the changes as we see them happening.

The Information 4.0 Consortium has identified 4 characteristics of content in Information 4.0. These characteristics embody not only the words that are written, but the format, chunking, release, timeliness, accessibility, and responsiveness to context of that information.

  • Dynamic: Content chunks that can be updated in real-time. When information in the system changes, the content or the user should be able to trigger its build or generation, rather than the writer.
  • Ubiquitous: Content available everywhere, independent of device. It must be online searchable and findable.
  • Offered: Specific content made available when users encounter an issue rather than all information related to all tasks all the time. Content is online, print medium is ruled out.
  • Spontaneous: Content triggered by the context. Meaning the orientation of the device being used or perhaps a specific context for an issue. An example is that information for de-icing a plane would only be available if the outside temperature is near 32 degrees.

Let’s say you need to produce instructions for 5 new system changes for 6 different users or types of users who have 4 distinct roles as users. This means that you will have to produce numerous sets of instructions; unique to each user. The difficulty is in managing these permutations of content without error.

How will Technical Writer Tools Change

Without a tool that applies these characteristics to content, it is just theory. With a tool, these characteristics can be implemented.  There is not a tool that can be used to implement all the characteristics to content. The best strategy for us as writers is to be prepared for what we image the changes may be:

  • Set standards and enforce/teach them: For a standard that content is to be independent of format, instruct writers to avoid inline formatting and use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for formatting.
  • Keep tools up-to date: When using a technology tool, take each update. If you try to move from version 8 to version 12 there may be some functionality that has depreciated. Deprecated features are features that remain in software but are not updated. At some time, these features will be removed. If the leap between the past and new software versions is too great, there can be functionality issues.
  • Seek out new industry tools: Whether you look for new tools to solve an existing problem or are just watching new trends in the industry, new tools will be developed to handle Information 4.0. Here are a few organizations and standards to watch for developing tools:
    • Dublin Core: an initiative to create a digital library card catalog for the Web made up of d15 metadata elements. Metadata is data about data.
    • Resource Description Framework (RDF): World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications for how to describe Internet resources such as a Web site and its content. These descriptions are referred to as metadata.
    • Fluid Topics: Captures content in any format to deliver on-the-spot knowledge tailored to the reader and suited to the channel.
  • Keep up with training: It is best to participate in training of existing and new technologies. A common misconception is that workers are smart enough to pick up the material or can research and teach themselves. Thought this is true, there is a possibility of bad habits being perpetuated through the organization if the self-taught employee teaches others their ‘bad habits. It is best to learn how the tool works and should be used by those who designed the tool or by industry experts.

How with Technical Writer Skills Change

As industry changes and technical writer tools change, so must the skills of the technical writer. Let’s look at machine generated text as an example.

For example, if there is a system for hospital equipment maintenance and repair and during a routine automated inspection of a piece of equipment a repair is determined to be necessary. The system will generate necessary reports for management and financial, as well as a full description of what was fixed for an automated fix or a set of repair instructions for a manual fix.

In this case the technical writer will not write the text. The writer becomes a rule maker and curator or the content; they will setup the system to generate specific pieces of content, for specific users, under specific situations.

With this content tailored approach writers will be geared toward writing 500 one-page documents rather than one 500-page book. The content is written in smaller chunks that can be put together in any order, for any different user, for any different state or condition.  The tools to come will handle the mechanics of how this occurs, but writers must understand the mechanics of what data, for whom, when and under what conditions.

Content Automation: Impact on Communicators and Writers

Content Automation

Content Automation Defined

Automation is a term we here most being applied to manufacturing; technology and machinery that controls the production and delivery of goods. Performing tasks previously performed by humans. Automation can be incorporated into various industries including communication and technical writing as Content Automation. Communicators/writers create a large volume of content for specific people, at specific times, on specific devices. Traditional methods of creation, management, and delivery can be cumbersome, time consuming, and do not prevent duplication of content.

Content automation the process gives communicators/writers a whole new process to create and manage reusable chunks of content. The chunks can then be assembled, tracked, managed and updated. When Artificial Intelligence (AI) is applied to content these chunks can be self-assembling.

Content and User Experience (UX)

Improving user experience is a top responsibility for communicators/writers. Accuracy of information and timeliness of delivery are keys to increasing UX. There is some debate on whether content strategy is a part of UX strategy. Some say no because the content does not live within an application. It is this writer’s opinion that content must be considered a part of UX simply because the users use it. Communications and written aids do impact success levels.

Clients or end users need to have the most accurate and up-to-date standard operating procedures (SOPs) related to the job they are trying to perform. For instance, emergency procedures for evacuating nursing homes during a natural disaster. These procedures could be different today than for the last disaster even if that was in the last few weeks. User experience with content comes down to correct content, at the correct time, and the correct place.

Start with a Content Audit

When trying to adopt content automation, the first step is to know your content. Perform a content audit to determine the current state of the materials. This involves how it is created, by which teams, the roles of the communicators/writers, current tools used, method of deliver, and the frequency it needs to be updated. The results of the content audit will guide your next steps. Once the content is evaluated, you can set goals for the next iteration of the content.

Power of Content Automation

When traditional static documents (Word or PDF) are created. This is time consuming, has a higher error rate, and the information is locked in the document and cannot be reused. When content automation is applied, communicators/writers create intelligent content or reusable components of text, charts, images, and video. Once a component is created it can be added to multiple documents; it is reused over and over. When the component is changed each use of it is updated automatically. These components become the single source of truth.

Let’s say your company is hosting a trade show.  You have created online, and print versions of the vendor showcase floor layout, session guide, and networking events.  As session presenters are accepted you add them to a location and time for presentation. John Presenter has an emergency and cannot make it to his session nor will he be displaying in the vendor showcase. He offers to send Jane in his place. If you are single sourcing/chunking information, you can change John’s name to Jane on  in the main location or chunk where this information appears, rather than to change the name on each online or print piece. Once changed, the information will automatically update in the online and print versions.

Figure 1: John Presenter

Figure 2: Jane Presenter

Impact for Communicators/Writers

The goal of content automation for communicators/writers is to allow them to focus on their strengths. Content automation allows these workers to focus less on managing information and reviewing materials. They can spend more time on creating original content.

Neil Perlin has identified 4 characteristics of content in Information 4.0 which includes content automation. These characteristics embody not only the words that are written, but the format, chunking, release, timeliness, accessibility, and responsiveness to context of that information.

  • Dynamic: Content chunks that can be updated in real-time. When information in the system changes, the content or the user should be able to trigger its build or generation, rather than the writer.
  • Ubiquitous: Content available everywhere, independent of device. It must be online searchable and find-able.
  • Offered: Specific content made available when users encounter an issue rather than all information related to all tasks all the time. Content is online, print medium is ruled out.
  • Spontaneous: Content triggered by the context. Meaning the orientation of the device being used or perhaps a specific context for an issue. An example is that information for de-icing a plane would only be available if the outside temperature is near 32 degrees.