Are you a competent technical communicator?

The creation of information for use shall be assigned to competent persons (*)

social media posting about fridge alarms

(*) ISO 82079 -article 10.1

Are you a competent person?

Sure you are… because you love writing. That’s why you decided to move to technical writing.

If you excel at English composition, you might be competent as a novelist, but it might not be sufficient for a technical writer’s career.

Indeed, IEEE/ISO 82079 (2019 version) lists 13 “Task-related competencies” and recommends: “To maximize the comprehensibility and safe use of a product, tasks related to information for use shall be assigned to competent persons.”


What are these task-related competencies?

They are probably extremely familiar to you:

  •  Conduct research and analyse the life cycle of the product, the target audience, the language(s) in which the information will be used
  • Develop standard processes and methods for developing information products
  • Develop a content strategy and a concept for the media for delivery of the information for use
  • Implement necessary enabling systems …for content management
  • Gather safety-related information from the developers
  • Develop written, audio or visual content
  • Perform proof-reading and checking of the information for use
  • Use the appropriate methodologies and tools to make the information management process more efficient and effective
  • Organize translation and localisation
  • Approve and test information for use (format, functional quality & usability)
  • Produce output media or instructional applications…and make the information for use ready for delivery
  • Analyse the way in which the target audience benefits from the information for use (website statistics, empirical tests, social media feedback)
  • Provide leadership, make project plans, manage service providers, communicate with developers

Good writing is definitely not enough to be qualified as “competent person.”

Want to learn more about IEEE-ISO 82 079?

Watch our IXIAtalks webinar recording with Marie-Louise Flacke from Awel-a-Ben and Nolwenn Kerzreho from the MadCap IXIA CCMS team to learn more about competencies, minimalism, safety messages, and three new information types related to IEEE-ISO 82 079!

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