Writing engaging tutorials
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My final talk at the Yahoo! Frontend Engineering summit in London. This is a presentation containing tips and ideas about how you can write successful, engaging tutorials for online use.
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Writing engaging tutorials
- 1. Writing engaging tutorials Making them come back for more Christian Heilmann Yahoo! Frontend Engineering Summit UK December 2007 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
- 2. There is no perfect tutorial.
- 3. … as there is no “one” audience.
- 4. One thing to keep in mind is the perceived speed of the internet and the impatience of developers.
- 5. We are much more patient when it comes to assembling a plumbing unit in our flat than when it comes to using other people’s code.
- 6. Developers work with the IKEA model when using code that is not theirs:
- 7. Developers work with the IKEA model when using code that is not theirs: Open it, mess around, start reading when you get stuck.
- 8. Developers work with the IKEA model when using code that is not theirs: Open it, mess around, start reading when you get stuck. Complain when you find a channel that answers.
- 10. Readers I encountered: – Give me all the information, I find what I need.
- 11. Readers I encountered: – Give me all the information, I find what I need. – Get me a step-by-step instruction how to do things
- 12. Readers I encountered: – Give me all the information, I find what I need. – Get me a step-by-step instruction how to do things – I want to click on things and see how they work, then read.
- 14. Readers I encountered: – I need something to copy + paste and get on with it myself
- 15. Readers I encountered: – I need something to copy + paste and get on with it myself – I don’t get it, can you show me?
- 16. Readers I encountered: – I need something to copy + paste and get on with it myself – I don’t get it, can you show me? – Doesn’t work for me, I know better and this never worked in my professional environment.
- 17. Catering for them all is tricky.
- 18. However, readers are not Pokemons – you don’t need to catch them all.
- 19. Start with the basics
- 20. Start with the basics – Why is this a good idea – Which real-life day to day web development problem is solved by it. – What is the level of this tutorial – what do you need to know. – Show a prominent link to a working example – if there is a visual outcome use a linked screenshot.
- 21. Start with the basics – Why is this a good idea – Which real-life day to day web development problem is solved by it. – What is the level of this tutorial – what do you need to know. – Show a prominent link to a working example – if there is a visual outcome use a linked screenshot.
- 22. Start with the basics – Why is this a good idea – Which real-life day to day web development problem is solved by it. – What is the level of this tutorial – what do you need to know. – Show a prominent link to a working example – if there is a visual outcome use a linked screenshot.
- 23. Start with the basics – Why is this a good idea – Which real-life day to day web development problem is solved by it. – What is the level of this tutorial – what do you need to know. – Show a prominent link to a working example – if there is a visual outcome use a linked screenshot.
- 24. Start with the basics – Offer links to full documentation elsewhere (W3C, MSDN, YDN) – Offer the download package with code examples or image templates upfront. – Give an estimate as to how long it should take to go through this tutorial. – Say your name, a way to contact you and when you wrote this.
- 25. Start with the basics – Offer links to full documentation elsewhere (W3C, MSDN, YDN) – Offer the download package with code examples or image templates upfront. – Give an estimate as to how long it should take to go through this tutorial. – Say your name, a way to contact you and when you wrote this.
- 26. Start with the basics – Offer links to full documentation elsewhere (W3C, MSDN, YDN) – Offer the download package with code examples or image templates upfront. – Give an estimate as to how long it should take to go through this tutorial. – Say your name, a way to contact you and when you wrote this.
- 27. Start with the basics – Offer links to full documentation elsewhere (W3C, MSDN, YDN) – Offer the download package with code examples or image templates upfront. – Give an estimate as to how long it should take to go through this tutorial. – Say your name, a way to contact you and when you wrote this.
- 28. Start with the basics – Offer links to full documentation elsewhere (W3C, MSDN, YDN) – Offer the download package with code examples or image templates upfront. – Give an estimate as to how long it should take to go through this tutorial. – Say your name, a way to contact you and when you wrote this.
- 29. Offer landmarks
- 30. Offer landmarks – Offer a “quick jump / table of contents” feature – this also allows bookmarking – Cut the tutorial up into logical steps / units with useful headings (don’t try to be funny) – Add a link to the state of the code at each step – so people can follow the changes without needing to copy and paste.
- 31. Offer landmarks – Offer a “quick jump / table of contents” feature – this also allows bookmarking – Cut the tutorial up into logical steps / units with useful headings (don’t try to be funny) – Add a link to the state of the code at each step – so people can follow the changes without needing to copy and paste.
- 32. Offer landmarks – Offer a “quick jump / table of contents” feature – this also allows bookmarking – Cut the tutorial up into logical steps / units with useful headings (don’t try to be funny) – Add a link to the state of the code at each step – so people can follow the changes without needing to copy and paste.
- 33. Language
- 34. Language – PBE - Plain Bloody English – Explain your TLAs – Explain product names and special terms – Use short sentences. – Avoid the “I”, instead invite the reader with a “then you can do…” or a “Let’s…”
- 35. Language – PBE - Plain Bloody English – Explain your TLAs – Explain product names and special terms – Use short sentences. – Avoid the “I”, instead invite the reader with a “then you can do…” or a “Let’s…”
- 36. Language – PBE - Plain Bloody English – Explain your TLAs – Explain product names and special terms – Use short sentences. – Avoid the “I”, instead invite the reader with a “then you can do…” or a “Let’s…”
- 37. Language – PBE - Plain Bloody English – Explain your TLAs – Explain product names and special terms – Use short sentences. – Avoid the “I”, instead invite the reader with a “then you can do…” or a “Let’s…”
- 38. Language – PBE - Plain Bloody English – Explain your TLAs – Explain product names and special terms – Use short sentences. – Avoid the “I”, instead invite the reader with a “then you can do…” or a “Let’s…”
- 39. Language – PBE - Plain Bloody English – Explain your TLAs – Explain product names and special terms – Use short sentences. – Avoid the “I” - instead invite the reader with a “then you can do…” or a “Let’s…”
- 40. Credibility
- 41. Credibility – Back up your statements with examples. – Back up your statements with third party resources. – Never hush up errors you made. If feedback changes your tutorial, thank the commenter and add the changes. <del>/<ins>
- 42. Credibility – Back up your statements with examples. – Back up your statements with third party resources. – Never hush up errors you made. If feedback changes your tutorial, thank the commenter and add the changes. <del>/<ins>
- 43. Credibility – Back up your statements with examples. – Back up your statements with third party resources. – Never hush up errors you made. If feedback changes your tutorial, thank the commenter and add the changes. <del>/<ins>
- 44. Credibility – Back up your statements with examples. – Back up your statements with third party resources. – Never hush up errors you made. If feedback changes your tutorial, thank the commenter and add the changes. <del>/<ins> – Have an editor / reviewer
- 46. Leaving them hungry – Offer extra problems / other application ideas at the end and let people try them out. – Hint at more tricks in the same vain or link to other tutorials. – Show high-class solutions using that trick (which awesome sites use it)
- 47. Leaving them hungry – Offer extra problems / other application ideas at the end and let people try them out. – Hint at more tricks in the same vain or link to other tutorials. – Show high-class solutions using that trick (which awesome sites use it)
- 48. Leaving them hungry – Offer extra problems / other application ideas at the end and let people try them out. – Hint at more tricks in the same vain or link to other tutorials. – Show high-class solutions using that trick (which awesome sites use it)
- 49. Traps to avoid! – Don’t offer the solutions to code exercises, people will only copy + paste and learn nothing. – Don’t cut up code into non-executable chunks, show the whole script then repeat the parts bit-by-bit. – Stick to one solution per tutorial and explain this one well.
- 50. Traps to avoid! – Don’t offer the solutions to code exercises, people will only copy + paste and learn nothing. – Don’t cut up code into non-executable chunks, show the whole script then repeat the parts bit-by-bit. – Stick to one solution per tutorial and explain this one well.
- 51. Traps to avoid! – Don’t offer the solutions to code exercises, people will only copy + paste and learn nothing. – Don’t cut up code into non-executable chunks, show the whole script then repeat the parts bit-by-bit. – Stick to one solution per tutorial and explain this one well.
- 52. Traps to avoid! – Don’t offer the solutions to code exercises, people will only copy + paste and learn nothing. – Don’t cut up code into non-executable chunks, show the whole script then repeat the parts bit-by-bit. – Stick to one solution per tutorial and explain this one well.
- 53. Maintenance
- 54. Maintenance – Don’t leave your tutorials to collect dust. – If they become outdated, find a better, up-to-date solution and link or even redirect to this one. – We have more than enough information graveyards.
- 55. Maintenance – Don’t leave your tutorials to collect dust. – If they become outdated, find a better, up-to-date solution and link or even redirect to this one. – We have more than enough information graveyards.
- 56. Maintenance – Don’t leave your tutorials to collect dust. – If they become outdated, find a better, up-to-date solution and link or even redirect to this one. – We have more than enough information graveyards.
- 57. What are you in for? – Last but not least, it is not about you! – You will get positive and negative comments targeted at you and not the subject. – Don’t take any of these serious. – Most of your readers will never contact you or take part.
- 58. What are you in for? – Last but not least, it is not about you! – You will get positive and negative comments targeted at you and not the subject. – Don’t take any of these serious. – Most of your readers will never contact you or take part.
- 59. What are you in for? – Last but not least, it is not about you! – You will get positive and negative comments targeted at you and not the subject. – Don’t take any of these serious. – Most of your readers will never contact you or take part.
- 60. What are you in for? – Last but not least, it is not about you! – You will get positive and negative comments targeted at you and not the subject. – Don’t take any of these serious. – Most of your readers will never contact you or take part.
- 61. What are you in for? – Last but not least, it is not about you! – You will get positive and negative comments targeted at you and not the subject. – Don’t take any of these serious. – Most of your readers will never contact you or take part.
- 62. THANKS! http://wait-till-i.com chris.heilmann@gmail.com