Let's bring science into technical writing
summary
Argues that common docs practices rest on measurable science: mapping tutorials to learning objectives and Bloom levels, using progress bars, breadcrumbs and checklists tied to the Zeigarnik effect, applying cognitive load theory and Miller’s 5–9 limit to keep procedures short, enforcing parallel grammar and templates to reduce extraneous load, using linters (Vale) and shared templates, citing IntelliJ docs and a JetBrains in‑IDE Writer site, and planning heatmaps and user interviews to validate results.
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chapters (6)
- 0:00Start
- 4:09Writing process
- 5:49Learning objective
- 12:23Cognitive load
- 16:42G.Miller's Magic number
- 18:41Cognitome and the cloud of meanings
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