Shanghai Tech Writer

A typical conversation with an acquaintance goes something like this:

Jane Doe: So what do you do?
Me: I’m a technical writer
Jane: Oh, what’s that?
Me: I write documentations, tutorials, online help, and other miscellaneous help files.
Jane: What company do you work for?
Me: National Instruments.
Jane: You mean Texas Instruments?
Me: No, National Instruments but the company is based in Texas.
Jane: What kind of company is National Instruments?
Me: They specialize in virtual instrumentations
Jane: What’s that?
Me: ….

I’ve only been at work for a week and I’m still trying to figure out what virtual instruments are and how to explain them. I explained VI in a previous blog as “a way of creating software that tests and measures different equipments used today” and LabVIEW is the software that NI created to create these VIs. My job is to document for LabVIEW. Most people give me a blank look, followed by a moment of awkward silence, then the conversation moves on to something entirely different.

It’s one thing to say I’m a technical writer for HP or Google and know that the products I write about are end user products that everyone knows about. But LabVIEW and other NI products are used at the business-end to “control instruments and collect, analyze, and share data.” What that means, I don’t really understand yet. I’m sure more will be covered throughout the next few weeks of training but meanwhile, it’s been pretty challenging trying to explain what I do to someone who’s less technical than I am. (I say that because many people consider me pretty geeky and don’t understand half the technical jargon that comes out of my mouth anyway). I don’t either.

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