---
title: 'Verbose mode: an exploration of programming languages and craft'
osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2017/program/proposals/347
beginning: '2017-10-06T16:30:00.000-07:00'
end: '2017-10-06T17:20:00.000-07:00'
presenters:
- name: hwaterhouse
  osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/users/308
  gravatar_id: f3538dcca7223bcb19519ed9620d7e14
---

I want to talk about knitting technical writing and how it has changed based on the education level we provide in schools, and what that means for technology.
The reason mainstream patterns are hard is because they assume a base level of knowledge in their users, and because they are so concerned about brevity that they omit context. This talk explains how the meaning of "common knowledge" changes, but our standards for interfaces and documentation don't keep up.

Come to this talk because you want to learn about how analytics can make your life easier, what that has to do with documentation, and my top tips for gauging your audience's experience and comfort level.

This talk is an analysis of how education, assumptions, and technological constraints can make systems of learning accessible or impenetrable, and what we can do about it.
