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Events

One student asked:

For the very first time, I tried to write something from my own point of view. You told me to rewrite that one according to the suggestions of your web site. Here are the things that I tried to follow from your web site:

What value do you add? If you copy everything from someone's web site, why should I read your paper instead of looking at the site myself? At work, if I do as well to read the original as to read your report, why should I pay you to write the report? You must find a way to add value. That is, I should rather read your report than read the originals. How can you add value?

Although I tried to make my report (Graduate Student Report) useful for my virtual employer, I realized (by getting poor marks on that) that this is not enough. What is missing?

My response:

ALL good writing is reader-centered, not writer-centered. As our book urges us to focus on our customers, the same is true of good writing.

• For whom are you writing this report?
• What are they like?
• What do they know?
• What do they want to know?
• What will help them understand your message?
• What action to you want them to take?

I am NOT your primary audience. You are not writing this report to get a good grade from me. I want a report that, the next time I teach this class, I can post for students like you were in January to help them learn more about HCI.

"Adding value" is a narrow path.

If you write entirely from your own point of view, why should the reader pay any attention? Do you pay much attention to the opinions of your classmates? Sure, you listen, but they are not authorities any more than you are, so their points of view are not especially valuable. Neither are yours.

OK. If your opinions don't count, you cite many authoritative sources, being careful to make clear who is the author of each idea. Bill Gates said, "..." Steve Jobs said, "..." That is authoritative, so the readers should pay attention.

But if Bill Gates said, "..." and Steve Jobs said, "...", I can read those for myself. Why should I pay you?

At work, if your boss can do a job in one day, she spends 5 hours explaining to you how to do it, and it takes you a week to do the job, have you earned your pay? Most bosses would say, "Absolutely," because you saved her 3 hours. You have added value by making your boss's job easier. If you consistently find ways to make life easier for your bosses and your colleagues, you will succeed in your career.

So for your report topic, you now know quite a bit. For a few moments, set that aside. Think of where you were, what you knew, and what you were thinking when you first came to this class in January. What would Shameem@Jan18 (and his classmates) want to know? What would impress him? What would help him understand? What should he DO with those insights?

As in this entire class, focus on the reader/user/customer, NOT on what you want to tell him, but on what he wants to know and how he wants to know it.

Then, Shameem@Apr14 writes the report Shameem@Jan18 wants to read.

No, I will not provide a sample. Your work life is about learning how to understand what the REAL problem is (it is NEVER what 'they' say it is) and then figuring out for yourself how best to address that problem. If your boss could give you the answer, she would not need to pay to to provide it.