Focus on Client Stories

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

29 July, 2024 / Jason Hall / No comments

Role: Technical Writer (2021–present)

Need: In order to reduce the number of rejections of technical documents received from the regulator, I was asked to develop a process for improving and tracking trends across thousands of documents and reducing rejected documents.

Solution:

Initially, developed an overview of all rejected documents which showed the most common errors. Worked with their style guide and numerous templates, and my knowledge of grammar and concise writing to build a standard for documents that could be adhered to. When asked to perform an editorial review of documents, I could produce an accurate and detailed estimate of the time required for completion, which allowed me to quickly review documents to a higher standard, thus increasing the likelihood of acceptance by the regulator.

Tools used:

  • ATOM document management system
  • Visio
  • SharePoint
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint…)

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Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC)

4 February, 2019 / Jason Hall / No comments

Role: Procedures Analyst (2018–2021)

Need: To comply with new government-mandated changes to automobile insurance, ICBC needs to revise all of its policy and procedural material. Projects included Rate Affordability Action Plan (RAAP), Modernization of Passenger-Directed Transportation (MPDT – otherwise known as Car Sharing/Ride Hailing), Material Damage (new Collision and Glass Repair programs).

Activities:

Working with business policy analysts and subject matter experts (auto insurance, healthcare, legal) to ensure readiness for province-wide rollout to ICBC’s internal departments and over 900 independent insurance brokers.

Tools used:

  • Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)
  • Oxygen Authoring – XML editor
  • Information Mapping methodology
  • SharePoint
  • Jira
  • Confluence
  • Microsoft Office

Deliverables

  • hundreds of Oxygen Authoring reference, policy, procedure, and process topics
  • Conversation guides
  • many SharePoint adjuster strategy topics
  • Job aids
  • and more

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British Columbia Institute of Technology

26 September, 2018 / Jason Hall / No comments

Role: Technical Writing Instructor/Instructional Designer (2007–present)

Need: BCIT’s Department of Communications relies on instructors with industry expertise and still active in the field, so it was my 15 years of experience as a technical writer that brought me into their technical writing courses. In addition, while there I also attained the Provincial Instructional Design Diploma in Adult Education designation to ensure my teaching ability is the best possible.

Activities:

Classroom experience as core instructor for the Technical Writing Certification Program.

  • Employing learning objectives and ADDIE model to develop courseware.
  • Analysing learner needs, designing lesson plans, developing learning assessments and evaluation tools according to criteria and rubrics.
  • Implementing blended learning (instructor-led training (ILT) and computer-based training (CBT)), and evaluating effectiveness of learning against learning objectives and
    criteria.

Courses taught: Technical Writing Style, Technical Editing and Grammar, Writing for the Web, Business Communications.

Tools used:

  • Learning Hub (online learning management system)
  • Moodle
  • WordPress
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint…)
  • Wiki
  • Adobe Acrobat

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WorkSafeBC

24 September, 2018 / Jason Hall / No comments

Role: Adult Education Consultant (2009) and Technical Writer (2018)

Need: WorkSafeBC (the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia) needed to modernize the way it processed its claims. As an agency mandated to reduce workplace injury and illness, the new system needed to allow WorkSafeBC employees with the ability to use create and follow the progress of claims from admission to release (including all communications regarding workers, employers, and health care providers).

Solution: Working out of the Richmond, BC Head Office, I was brought in (2009) to write training manuals for the enormous roll-out of the system. Training modules included procedures for processing worker injuries, long-term disability, healthcare, wage loss, employee/employer entitlements, and more.

I coordinated with subject matter experts and ran procedures within the CMS (Claims Management System) system. The resulting manuals were used for a province-wide software roll-out.

In 2018 after nearly ten years, I returned to update technical and training materials for the new upgrade. To do this, I re-ran procedures (from 2009) and revised them according to changes in the new version of CMS. To ensure consistency across more than 800 documents, I also developed a style guide.

Tools used:

  • Claims Management System (an in-house managed IBM/Cúram Social Program Management enterprise module-based platform)
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel…)
  • TechSmith Snaggit (a screen capture and screen recorder tool to create and edit images and screen captures)
  • SharePoint (a Microsoft enterprise file-management tool)
  • Adobe Acrobat

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British Columbia Lottery Corporation

10 November, 2017 / Jason Hall / No comments

Role: Technical Writer (2016–2017)

Need: In order to “productize” its in-house Lotto! product for external partners (and their clients) in other jurisdictions, Product Development decided its internal technical documents needed to be upgraded.

Solution:

Based on my technical writing skills and my flare for design, I became their document manager. My core responsibilities included engaging with subject matter experts (project managers, developers, engineers, and trainers) to identify audience and scope of documentation (process guides, SDKs, field technician guides, technical specifications, GUI review of user messages and more).

In the end, out of their complex and technical internally sourced materials by multiple contributors, I designed a suite of B2B documents written with a singular voice.

Later, I brought to their attention that their clients had no way to self-serve documents, so I assisted in developing a SharePoint portal with an explanatory matrix to help users understand what documents to use and when.

Tools used:

  • Lotto! ticket terminal (used in stores to produce lottery tickets)
  • Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Adobe…)
  • SharePoint
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint…)

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BC Renal Agency

27 June, 2016 / Jason Hall / No comments

Role: Technical Writer/Instructional Designer (2014–2016)

Need: Responsible for training clinical staff across several health authorities, BC Renal’s in-house software development department struggled to maintain the standards of its various training materials (online and print). Not only could users not find the information they needed, but trainers were never sure which versions of documents were last updated. The Training department (and by association, BC Renal) was having a crises of credibility.

Solution: Starting with a single 600-page user manual, I restructured the information to be more task based. By developing a system of key documents and sub documents, we could start to customize documentation to training needs (without creating duplicate information).

I then tackled the document template, eliminating unused, unneeded styles, and establishing a style guide). With a single-sourced knowledge base content, we could ensure consistent IT documentation.

While working on the online LMS system, I implemented ADDIE training plans for instructor-led training (ILT) and computer-based training (CBT).

Finally, I assisted in developing a strategic approach to increase effectiveness of communication between IT content and healthcare audience.

Tools used:

  • PROMIS (in-house kidney care information system)
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint…)
  • Doc-To-Help (webhelp authoring and publishing using Microsoft Word)
  • Jira (issue tracking product that allows bug tracking and agile project management)
  • Adobe Captivate (LMS authoring tool for creating elearning content such as software demonstrations according to SCORM standards)

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Webtech Wireless

25 June, 2013 / Jason Hall / No comments

Role: Technical Marketing Writer (2010–2013) and Technical Writer (2013)

Need: Webtech Wireless is a hardware/software company that helps long-haul and delivery trucking companies, snow removal fleets, and government agency fleets track vehicles (GPS), improve vehicle efficiency (AVL), and remotely control equipment (doors, de-icing in spreaders, engines). To help with their Sales initiatives, Webtech needed a way to translate complex technical information into simple and compelling writing.

Solution:

Initially brought on to catch up with marketing content development, I soon found myself writing and editing a vast array of company documentation:

  • Corporate website (managed in-house website and liaised with third-party service providers)
  • Social media (weekly blogs, media monitoring)
  • Annual and Quarterly Shareholder reports (editing, formatting)
  • Training documentation (training guides, installation guides, job aids)
  • Technology award applications
  • Video scripts (corporate marketing videos)
  • Marketing materials including brochures, Sales presentation, technical specifications, trade show signage, and more

As content editor responsible for proofreading, restructuring and adapting writing from subject matter experts and Sales staff, I also oversaw third-party service providers (translation, graphic design, printing, videography, SEO) and leveraged my knowledge of HTML, CSS, and XML to create and measure SEO-friendly web content (keywords, landing pages, campaigns).

In 2012, Webtech Wireless celebrated its first technology win (Adoption of Technology award celebrated at the 2012 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs)). A key part of this win was the award application itself, which I researched and wrote. When interviewing the CEO of our client company (who adopted our technology), I listened for the key words that would secure our win. Finally, the CEO said “With Webtech Wireless, we’ve doubled our revenue.”

I also assisted the Training department by proposing a radical new approach to training guides. Knowing their audience of truck drivers and trucking fleet managers, I asserted that we needed to take a more visual approach, and one that favoured reading on in-cab portable devices. So instead of a thick user guide with reams of text, I applied a single-source approach, removed about 20% of custom-build information (the Help Desk could handle that), and employed a responsive design approach in InDesign (to improve readability on tablets and portable devices). The Training and Development teams loved it!

Tools used:

  • Quadrant and Interfleet (GPS/AVL fleet tracking software)
  • SalesForce
  • Adobe Create Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Framemaker, Dreamweaver, Acrobat)
  • WordPress
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel…)
  • SharePoint (a Microsoft enterprise file-management tool)

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