Computer adventure games and operating systems have something in common: each presents to its players or users alien worlds that they can explore. The major difference between games and operating systems is in the way they communicate with people; operating systems tend to communicate poorly, while adventure games communicate so well that players need minimal introductory or reference documentation. What is it about adventure games that fosters ease of use? How might those techniques be applied to the design of operating system interfaces? The author offers answers for both questions.

The disciplines of software engineering and technical writing have much in common. Both espouse a structured approach to product development, whether the product is a computer program or a manual describing that program. These disciplinary parallels suggest that technical communicators have more to offer software engineers than our usual writing and editing services. Specifically, this article describes four special services that technical communicators could provide during the first phase of software development, requirements. These services are audience analysis, functional analysis, human factors research, and requirements writing. The goals of these services are to improve the quality of software products and to make the documentation task more efficient.