Patrick Blogs Good
Why AI Doesn't Work for You
Every vague prompt you fire at an AI is a window into how you communicate with the humans on your team. There's a good chance people don't appreciate it.
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Who Are We Really Writing To?
Traffic to individual help articles is down. Usage of the AI assistant trained on those articles is up. Nobody is reading the docs—but that doesn't mean the docs aren't working.
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Close Enough Was Kind of the Point
I want to get the call right. I want preserve aspects of the humanity in our world. Why is ABS making me crash out about autonomous cars?
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We Got What We Asked For
For years, technical writers argued that what they do is more than just writing. We started to be heard—but the monkey's paw is undefeated.
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How Can You Break into Technical Writing Without Entry-Level Jobs?
Entry-level and junior technical writing roles are disappearing—and so are the journeys that led us to being competent.
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Is Content Engineering the New Technical Writing?
AI is reshaping technical writing—but the writers who've been quietly building systems, not just content, are the ones who'll thrive. Welcome to content engineering.
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Ryne Sandberg Taught Me to Try
How the death of a Cubs legend brought back a memory about effort, dignity, and why we bother trying in a world that doesn't always reward it.
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Will AI Replace Technical Writers?
There will be a day that AI platforms will be able to make great quality technical content, making technical writers more or less obsolete. But the good news for us is that I th...
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Your Checklist for Building a Successful Technical Writing Program
You need to build cross-team processes to capture technical knowledge, create content that connects customer use cases to product workflows, and then find ways of distributing t...
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The First Three Rules for Technical Writing
Clarity, consistency, and empathy — three rules that can guide your approach to writing technical content your customers actually find helpful.
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Internationalization for the Technical Writer: Localizing Your User Guides
Doing localization poorly can be as negative to your customers' experiences as doing it well can be positive. Consider the upsides and the downsides before you start.
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Simple SEO Tips to Improve Your Product's Help Content
Straightforward SEO best practices for your user-friendly product manuals, guides, and help content that both your audience—and search engines—will appreciate.
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