STC Usability SIG Newsletter
Usability Interface

The Secret of Success

By David Dick, Editor

What is the secret of success? Benjamin Fairness says there are four essential ingredients to successful achievement:

1. Choose a career you love.
2. Give it the best there is in you.
3. Seize your opportunities.
4. Be a member of a team.

Fairness overlooked one important ingredient that is essential for success and that is “goals.” Everybody needs goals; reasons to wake up in the morning. For a goal to be meaningful, it must challenge the mind, body and spirit. Every day should be a quest to accomplish something challenging.

This issue is dedicated to technical communicators who have turned opportunity into success:

• Jennifer Atkinson writes about her team’s experiences and successes of user interface design. See Seize the Day.
• Arnold Lund writes about how a friend found employment by writing an article about usability for a local newspaper. See Selling Usability.
• Fabien Vais describes how students use technology to overcome challenges. See Technology in the Classroom.
• Molly Cloyd describes how she became an independent consultant for two companies. See Selling User Centered Design.

I have also turned opportunity into success. October begins my third year as Editor of “Usability Interface.” I was reluctant to volunteer because I was afraid to make mistakes. To my good fortune, I am in the company of wonderful people who bring out the best in me. I attribute my success to the leadership of Whitney Quesenbery and the talents of Alice Preston, Judith Blostein, Susan Duncan, Vanessa Mosher, Deborah Sellers, Steven Weintraub, Everyl Yankee, and Becky Kinder. We are a team of dedicated professionals, and seize opportunities to cover new and challenging topics. Our goal is publish an informative and entertaining newsletter. Now you know the secret of my success.