driving dita off the map
DESCRIPTION
Publications in DITA are handled via dita maps. Even with conditions and DITAVAL options, these are inherently static and bound to an old book type paradigm. In this presentation I am trying to outline a new paradigm, where the disclosure of information is made truly dynamic. Doing away with maps or at least with one single top-level map that defines all content. Having a dynamic information disclosure layer in place may prepare our technical content for the fast-moving world of today (which will move even faster tomorrow).TRANSCRIPT
Driving DITA off the Map
Jang F.M. Graat
Who’s talking ?• Jang F.M. Graat
• Amsterdam
• Part-time tech comms specialist (25+ years)
• Full-time philosopher
• Box ? What box ?
• Addicted to challenge
Driving DITA off the Map
Toward (Much) More Intelligent Information Disclosure
What’s the problem ?
Minimalism
Only what the user needs
One Size Fits All ?
Who is the user ?
What do they know ?
Progressive disclosure
Workflow diagram
Trouble-shooting
Organizing topics
Where to look ?
Outdated paradigm
Slightly better paradigm
Modern (lazy) paradigm
What is installed ?
A B C D E F G H
GUI a X X X X
GUI b X X X
GUI c X X
library 1 X X X
library 2 X X X X X X
library 3 X X X X
.NET X X X X
SQL X X X
PHP X X X X
Can users figure it out ?
User-side configuration
Intelligent disclosure
information elements (multiple versions)
maps, indexes, cross-refs, search results
product a product b product c
c X
X
X
Dynamic toc, index, etc.
information elements (multiple versions)
a b
Dynamic topic linking
information elements (multiple versions)
a b c
Only what users need
Questions ?
jang @ jang . nl