The Cherryleaf Podcast

With the Dev Portal Awards 2021 under way, we look at the characteristics of an award-winning developer portal.  Dev Portal Awards 2021 What is your developer portal’s KPI score? About Cherryleaf: Cherryleaf

If a startup came to you asking for a checklist of actions they should take/consider when it comes to writing their first docs, what would you tell them?   We asked that question on Social Media. In this episode, we reveal what people said.    Get the ultimate user onboarding content checklist for start-ups   About Cherryleaf: Cherryleaf  

Unexpected bonus August episode. We spoke to Jennifer Morse, Vice President of Customer Success at MadCap Software, about the new Learning and Development features that have been included in latest release of MadCap Flare.  More information: New Release: MadCap Flare 2021 r2 Bridging the Gap Between Technical Authoring and Learning & Development Webinar recording: Major New Learning & Development...

Ellis looks at nine common onboarding mistakes that software companies make: Not thinking about jobs to be done, but features Overloading users with information Writing for a single audience Not providing or not co-ordinating the five pillars of onboarding content Getting the timing wrong Unclear goals Leaving "seams" in the onboarding experience  Poor quality content No testing or metrics Take ou...

We talk to Karissa Van Baulen, Customer Education Lead and Knowledge Base Owner at Hotjar. We discuss how she has used heatmaps and playback recordings to improve Hotjar's knowledge base. What does Hotjar do? Why are heatmaps important? How have you used heatmaps and recordings to improve Hotjar's knowledge base? How easy is this to do? How much time should you schedule? What have been the benefit...

Ellis talks to Toby Chapman Dawe of Strand UK about why he claims nobody ever wants to buy software. Toby is Managing Director of Strand. Toby specialises in communicating the business benefits of enterprise technology. Formerly a journalist in the UK writing for trade and national press, Toby transferred to the world of advertising in the Netherlands. Later, he moved back to magazine publishing a...

For a while now, we’ve been looking at ways to import API reference content into MadCap Flare, so that we can use Flare to create a developer portal. Here’s the latest update on what we’ve learnt.  Videos: Importing OpenAPI/Swagger API reference content into MadCap Flare 2021 to create a developer portal Importing API reference documentation into a MadCap Flare project Cherryleaf is a technical wr...

In addition to the basic skills in technical communication, what other skills does a technical communicator need?  In this episode, we look at the areas where technical communicators deepen and widen their skill set. We consider what should be the topic for our (Cherryleaf's) next elearning course. Twitter thread: Does anyone have opinions as to what should go into a course on creating content for...

In March 2021, Google published the “Google UX Design Certificate Program", as part of its Grow with Google scheme.    In this episode, we look at: What is promised How it's delivered What's in the course Career prospects Related information: https://grow.google/uxdesign/ https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-ux-design Intermediate/Advanced Technical Communication elearning tra...

Recently, we asked on Social Media: What do you want from a course on creating screenshots and other graphics? What topics would like a course like this to cover?  In this episode we'll cover the responses we got, and why we asked those questions. Related information: Intermediate/Advanced Technical Communication elearning training course Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryle...

We talk about an episode from the Smart Passive Income Podcast ( Smart Passive Income Podcast 471 How to Become a Better Communicator with Kolarele Sonaike) and discuss why technical communicators' communication skills may not be enough for them to progress up an organisation's hierarchy.    More information: Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com

In December 2020, a "Reuse Files" button mysteriously appeared in the browser version of Microsoft Word. There doesn't appear to be any documentation about it on the Microsoft website. What does it do?  In this episode, we do some investigating to find out.  More information: Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com  

On social media, we asked "what are the most common problems organisations make with developer portals and API documentation?"   In this episode, we look at the responses we received. We also discuss some of the other common mistakes that we've come across.    More information: Cherryleaf's API/developer documentation writing services Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.c...

We look at some of the common content challenges organisations face with their developer portals, and ways to fix them. We also look at creating a friction log, and the complexity of banking related APIs.    More information: Cherryleaf's API/developer documentation writing services Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com

We discuss the lessons we've learnt so far from training in a virtual classroom environment during the Lockdown.    More information: Cherryleaf's training courses Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com

Ellis donned his finest brocade waistcoat and riding boots for an episode that was recorded in one of the locations used in the Bridgerton TV series.  He discusses the location, and the impact of Brexit on technical writing companies such as Cherryleaf.    Image by Maxwell Hamilton, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52540109 EU/UK TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT (see An...

We spoke to Deborah Reid, Lead Tester at Bloom & Wild, about usability testing.  We discuss: What is testing? Is it only about accessibility? Where is it used? Why should organisations worry about testing/do testing? Does it need a specialist to do it?/ What skills are needed? How did you become a tester/what attracted you to it? How is it done? Browser developer tools When should you test?  Debor...

We asked the people who receive the  Cherryleaf newsletter  what was one goal (relating to work, career, or work-life balance) that they were setting for 2021. We received a lot of replies – thank you. In this episode, we go through what you told us.  More information: Word clouds from your responses Ankerwycke Cherryleaf website Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com

Another walking podcast, this time it's from Bedfont Lakes country park in west London. We gaze into our crystal ball and make predictions for the future of technical communication for 2021 and beyond. We also share the thoughts of others in the profession.  Twitter thread: What trends do you think there will be in Technical Communication (including UX writing) for 2021 and beyond? LinkedIn thread...

The DevPortal Awards bring together the API community to recognize, celebrate and learn from the world’s greatest developer portals and their API documentation. Ellis is one of the judges. In this podcast, he talks about the criteria the awards use to assess the different developer portals.     DevPortal Awards Cherryleaf website Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com Ch...

We discuss a thread by Chris Herd on Twitter about working from home, and the future of work.    Chris Herd's thread on Twitter.   Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com Cherryleaf  

We talk to Bart Leahy about his career as a Technical Writer and his book, Heroic Technical Writing: Making a Difference in the Workplace and Your Life .   Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com Cherryleaf  

Ellis describes his experience of writing and publishing a book on Kindle. He also discusses creating an audiobook for Audible and the latest options for printing a paperback book.    More information https://kdp.amazon.com/ https://www.acx.com/ https://www.postermywall.com/index.php/posters/search?s=ebook# https://www.fiverr.com/   Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf:  info@cherryleaf.com...

Ellis was recently a judge for the UK Technical Communication Awards 2020. In this podcast we look at the process for judging the entries, and the variety of content submitted.  More information: Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com  

Organisations that take a controls-based approach to auditing typically need controls-based procedures. We look at how they differ from other policies and procedures. We also discuss how we're approaching procedures writing projects during the lockdown.  More information: Cherryleaf procedures writing services Cherryleaf newsletter To contact Cherryleaf: info@cherryleaf.com   Photo by Charles Delu...