The Four Pillars of Creating Findable and Usable Content

Viqui Dill, Documentation Specialist at Navy Federal Credit Union said this talk came from onboarding employees, when they were getting people not familiar with technical communication principles, such as fiction writing or journalism. They were good writers, but were used to writing differently. This was to help them understand not only what they do, but why they do it. 

Readers aren't paid to learn documentation. They're getting paid to get back to work. 

Thinking about readers, they are "naked and afraid." We're going to help them by using plain, consistent language. We're going to help them by making content findable and discoverable.  

User profiles asks who are our readers. Includes primary, secondary, tertiary readers, and gatekeepers. Primary readers are the action takers. Secondary readers are advisors.  Tertiary readers are people who have interest n the information. 

Consistency helps readers know what to expect.