Informally a technical communicator in various industries since grad school in the 1990s. Held down full time tech comms for a very good run from 2007 to 2014. Understanding how people and processes work in science, industry and business has made my skills very portable.Employed business analysis and usability theory in the pursuit of documenting software architecture and database design, among lighter subjects. Engaged from project conception through working with customer support post-release. Instrumental in ensuring hardware, software, and documentation regulatory compliance around financial data security, for a novel payment card application.Have developed and documented processes and requirements for industrial metal processing, mastered customs documentation, and can translate architectural blueprints and follow building codes.Information design is critical for excellence in any form of business communication. Information design is exactly as important as it is for usability, graphical design, or any other field where excellence is just as important as doing it at all.Complete and accurate content that isn’t functionally available to the users when they need it, is wasted effort. Information design is the critical work that must be done to prevent this from happening, often before the writing starts.Information design requires decisions based on:The audience:- who are you writing for?- what do they use and need?The medium:- are you writing reference or training documents?- are you adding integral help to the product?- are you using graphics and video correctly? Are they informative and integral?The format:- does your visual style aid user navigation?- does it support product branding?The writing style. Of course you’re literate, but:- is your work clear?- is your work accessible?- is localization an issue? Have you allowed for it?This is very simplified; there are many aspects to information design. There are libraries of books and full degree courses on getting it right. Ideally, there are guidelines and structures in place to support the writers. Excellent communicators keep all of it in mind.Software tools are for learning. I'm a quick study. Experience withAdobe Illustrator, Photoshop, RobohelpMicrosoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)Oxygen XML EditorCSS/HTML/XMLIndustry tags:PCI, enterprise software, system and server maintenance, CAA/AAA, travel agency, medical care, automotive, automated assembly, machine vision, biochemistry, molecular genetics, biostatistics.