UWTC: David Farkas

Ph.D. Language & Literature, University of Minnesota, 1976
M.A. Language & Literature, University of Chicago, 1969
B.A. Language & Literature, University of Rochester, 1968

Professional Interests:

Information Design, including Web design, hypertext, software user assistance, and PowerPoint.

Professional Affiliations:

STC (Society for Technical Communication)
ACM (Association for Computing Machinery)
(SigWEB, SigCHI, SigDOC)
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English)
ATTW (Association of Teachers of Technical Writing)

Honors and Awards:

STC Fellow
Jay Gould Award (STC) for Excellence in Education
Significant recognition for several publications

Research

My current research projects include addressing some of the problems in PowerPoint design and the QuikScan Project.

Selected Publications

“Toward a Better Understanding of PowerPoint Deck Design,”IDJ+DD (Information Design Journal + Document Design), volume 14 (2), August 2006, pp. 162-71.

Q. Zhou and D. K. Farkas, "QuikScan: An Innovative Approach to Support Document Use in Meetings," Proceedings of the STC Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV, May 9-12, 2006.

Review of Cliff Atkinson, Beyond Bullet Points, in Technical Communication 52 (4), November 2005, pp. 465-67.

“Understanding and Using PowerPoint,” STC Annual Conference Proceedings, May 8-11, 2005, pp. 313-320.

"The Explicit Structure of Print and On-Screen Documents," Technical Communication Quarterly, 14 (1), 2005, pp. 9-30.

"Representing Website Design," Proceedings of the 2003 WinWriters Online Help Conference, Seattle, Washington, February 16-19, 2003.

"Managing Headings in Print and Online Documents," Proceedings of the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference, Portland, OR, September 17-20, 2002.

D.K. Farkas and J.B. Farkas, Principles of Web Design. Allyn and Bacon 2002.

D.K. Farkas and J.B. Farkas, "Guidelines for Designing Web Navigation," Technical Communication, 47(3), August 2000, pp. 341-358.

"The Logical and Rhetorical Construction of Procedural Discourse," Technical Communication, 46(1), February 1999, pp. 42-54.

"Layering as a 'Safety Net' for Minimalist Documentation," in Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel, ed. J.M. Carroll, MIT Press, 1998, pp. 247-74.

S. Boggan, D.K. Farkas, and J. Welinske, Developing Online Help for Windows 95. Boston, MA: International Thomson Computer Press, 1996. Reprinted, Solutions, Incorporated (Reading, MA), 1999.

D.K. Farkas and S.E. Poltrock, "Online Editing, Mark-Up Models, and the Workplace Lives of Editors and Writers," IEEE Transactions in Professional Communication, 38(2), June 1995, pp. 110-117. Reprinted in J. Dautermann and P. Sullivan, eds., Electronic Literacy in the Workplace: Technologies of Writing, National Council of Teachers of English, 1996.

S. Boggan, D.K. Farkas, and J. Welinske, Developing Online Help for Windows. SAMS/Prentice Hall, 1993. Reprinted, International Thomson Computer Press, 1995. Chinese language edition, Beijing Hope Publishing Company, 1994.

"The Role of Balloon Help in the Documentation Set," Journal of Computer Documentation, 17(2), 1993, pp. 3-20.

"Applying Hypertext Concepts to Print," Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference, Santa Fe, NM, October 1992, pp. 157-62.

T.R. Williams and D.K. Farkas, "Minimalism Reconsidered: Should We Design Documentation for Exploratory Learning?" SigCHI Bulletin 24(2), 1992, 41-50.

"Collaborative Writing, Software Engineering, and the Universe of Collaborative Activity," in Collaborative Writing in Industry, eds. M.M. Lay and W. Karis, Baywood Publishing Company, 1991, pp. 13-30.

D.K. Farkas and T.R. Williams, "John Carroll's Nurnberg Funnel and Minimalist Documentation," IEEE Transactions in Professional Communication, 33(4), December 1990, pp. 182-87.