TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION AND TECHNICAL WRITING: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE

BY Olha Melnychuk  | TCO DIRECTOR

In this article, we will talk about Technical Communicators who help users deal with new or complex products and do their best to preserve knowledge about the technical side of software development. At the same time, technical writing is a quite familiar term, and it is easy to understand its essence by its very name. 

Both roles are perfect for empathetic and structured people interested in technologies who have an irresistible desire to share information with others in an easy-to-understand form. Not sure what position fits best for you? Let’s find out.

TECHNICAL WRITING VS TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION 

Technical solutions are changing in the blink of an eye and require a straightforward explanation to be embraced. Lack of it leads to misunderstanding – users or other stakeholders encounter obstacles trying to decipher how the tool works. And if it becomes too difficult and there are similar programs on the market, it is even harder to understand them. Technical Writers (TWs) and Technical Communicators (TCs) help eliminate misunderstandings. Using simple words, they describe the product, service, or process, prepare answers to the most common questions, suggest how to quickly master the program. 

To provide quality customer support, we possess several superpowers. Obviously, this is the ability to capture the essence and structure the information. That is, to describe the product exactly as it will be convenient and useful. Also, we listen to what the developers say about the product usage and choose only the information users need to know. These superpowers also include the ability to structure information so people could find answers to their questions easily and quickly, rather than solving the quest in the program and then in the instructions. These are the responsibilities of both Technical Communicators and Technical Writers. But what's the difference? 

Technical writing implies process documentation and leads to creating manuals, instructions, online-help systems, etc. Technical writers produce documentation in a written format. 

Technical communication is a multilateral area that, besides writing, includes all other forms of communication. As well as technical writers, Technical Communicators do research and interview r experts. They choose the best way to represent the information. They do everything for convenience of the target audience. What other forms can these be, and what could be more convenient than the usual text of instructions? We provide useful content in the form of educational and even interactive videos. There is often a need to visualize information and use a minimum of text. We prepare brochures for a quick start (the latter are often needed in healthcare when digitizing their approach to document management). In short, we spend enough time in the beginning to find the best method, format, or approach and make resolving issues even faster. But TCs also have other responsibilities.

WHAT ARE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TECHNICAL COMMUNICATOR? 

The new product may be a first example. We want our users to handle product functionality, taking maximum advantage of it and solving their issues. It can be the F1 rescue key or the question mark button inside the product or the package of materials that comes with the product. There should be a place with useful information about product usage, especially software. It’s even better when this place is easy to find and navigate quickly. All these are responsibilities of Technical Communicators—they prepare product documentation that is important for product development and designing: 

• End-user documentation that presents information about the product in the printed or online form depending on the clients’ needs. 
• Release notes describing changes, new features, and fixed bugs. Typically, they accompany a product launch or update. 
• Tutorials, playbooks, and other materials to help users get started as quickly as possible. 
• UI text, overlay assistance, and product tours constitute different forms of built-in user assistance. They provide the user with the most necessary information, which will be displayed in the program so that the user does not have to look for anything in the documentation. 
• Video tutorials, interactive simulations that answer questions that users ask most frequently. 

Still, many of us are more comfortable consuming video content. 

As you have ascertained, documentation is just the tip of the iceberg. To complement it and facilitate a better explanation, TCs prepare other outputs, such as presentations, infographics, technical illustrations, and diagrams that help convey information in visual and verbal forms. 

As we list in such detail everything that Technical Communicators do, do not forget to mention the documentation that covers the technical side of the product: 

• Technical documentation for developers – onboarding, processes, code descriptions, architectural decisions. 
• API (application programming interfaces) documentation and everything related to it. 
• Administration, configuration, and operational documentation. 

Lastly, localization and translation are also among responsibilities of TCs. 

In huge, or rather giant projects, there are specialists who perform this work, and the popularity of such tasks is growing rapidly. All because of globalization, i.e., the entry of products into new markets. Technical Communicators are also often involved in these activities. We help localize both software products and the accompanying documentation and training materials in the required languages. 

Technical Communication intensively evolves, and so does Technical Writing as its part. However, Technical Communication includes other cross-cutting professions, such as technical content developer, API writer, UI writer, technical illustrator, information architect, etc. All these parts form a single puzzle, where the style’s accuracy, utility, and consistency play a crucial role.

HOW TCS MAY SOLVE USERS’ PROBLEMS?

Let’s consider a few case studies to show you how exactly a Technical Communicators’ work may help users in various scenarios. 

Imagine a situation where new equipment or software is implemented in a network of clinics. New employees or those who perform certain tasks for the first time face difficulties not knowing how the equipment, program, or application works. Clear instructions, interactive simulations, and video tutorials will be very relevant here.

Another example is from the oil and gas industry—workers at different enterprise levels may face difficulties for various reasons. Step-by-step instructions, onboard documentation, and manuals describing the operation of the software can make things much easier for them.

Technical Communicators act as mediators who organize the right relationship between product developers and users. They find the optimal approach to inform and engage the audience. Moreover, separate projects require documentation or safety guidelines for software developers involved in different project parts. Technical Communicators easily cope with such tasks thanks to the writing competence and knowledge of tools for creating video, presentations, help systems, playbooks, etc. 

We feel that ideas, concepts, and processes need competent communication, so we are often associated with end-user lawyers.