Working with Craig is a game-changer for our projects. His deep understanding of the product and the ability to provide crystal-clear explanations is so helpful for our users!
How can I help you?
-
Knowledge base articles
Help center and knowledge base articles are my speciality. I’ll make sure your articles meet the needs of your customers and staff.
-
User guides / manuals
Need user guides for your products or services? No problem. I create user guides for online and print, all from the same content.
-
Paligo technical writing
Looking for a Paligo contractor? I’ve worked for Paligo on help content and in customer support, so you could say I know my way around the CCMS.
-
MadCap Flare technical writing
MadCap Flare was my tool of choice for many years. If you need a Flare technical writer, I’ll be productive from Day 1.
-
Conversions
Looking to convert your old content into a different format? No problem. I’ve worked on lots of import projects and can tidy up conversions.
-
Technical writing consultant
Got another type of technical writing, UX writing, or content design project? I’d love to hear more. Let me know what you need …
Craig combined professionalism with a conversational style in his writing that engaged the reader, often of subject matter that was both complicated and dry, but always managing to make it interesting and accessible.
What to expect
-
Discovery and creation
To make your content as effective as possible, I need to start with research (discovery).
That means understanding who your users are and what they need and expect. Also, I need to know what other stakeholders need from your documentation.
From there, I can plan the structure of your content and the basic information architecture.Next, I’ll need to get to grips with your product or service. But this doesn’t have to take place all at once.
-
Product testing
When you hire me for your project, you get more than a writer. You get some testing and UX input too.
I use your product in the same way that your customers do, so I can test what works and report bugs. I can also point out areas and workflows that might be confusing and suggest alternatives.And if some of your user interface content could use some love, I can help with that too.
Think of me as an in-house user advocate as well as a technical writer/content designer/UX writer.
How technical am I?
You might think that a technical writer needs to be an expert on your product to create useful content. That’s not always the case, especially with end-user documentation. It is more that I need to be an expert for the specific answer I am writing. And that’s a lot easier to achieve than becoming an expert on everything all at once.
You see, having too much of a technical background can be a barrier. It’s called the “curse of knowledge” - it’s when someone knows a subject so well that they struggle to understand the user’s perspective. That’s when you get content that makes assumptions, leaves out vital information, or uses terms that leave your customer’s baffled.
What matters most is that your technical writer can empathise with your customers and understands how to plan, structure, and present content that meets their needs.
That’s what technology companies hire me for.
Over the years, I’ve worked on many highly technical projects, including:
IoT software for the water industry
Data centre cooling systems
Time sync devices for the film industry
Business processes (health care providers)
Electric vehicle chargers
SaaS CCMS content systems (Paligo)
AI photo apps (Photoroom)
It’s all about understanding your users, knowing technical communication best practices, and having a curious mind.
