Tel: 07789 937 606 (mobile), 020 8885 5958 (home)

Email: jeremy.browning@btinternet.com

Location: London N17

I am a highly experienced and motivated writer with a passion for accuracy, clarity, conciseness, and the correct usage of terminology, grammar & spelling. I also have developed and delivered training courses for a wide range of participants.

Services and abilities include:

•         Electronic and printed documentation including online Help, user manuals, training materials & courseware, user interface and requirements specifications, quick reference & 'getting started' guides, installation guides & release notes, design & style guides, custom & corporate templates, SDK documentation, process and procedural documents, and marketing literature.
•         Editing, proof reading, reviewing, layout and presentation of written materials.
•         Training courses and courseware for end users, developers and third parties.

•         Excellent written and oral communications skills, combined with a desire to create and maintain high quality documentation and templates across all aspects of a company.
•         Deep understanding of the issues facing end users, and the ability to distil the relevant information from complex sources and present it in simple language and a logical structure.
•         Experience of user interface (UI) design and specification, and advising on software usability.
•         Enthusiastic, creative and committed team member, initiating and leading processes to improve output.
•         Able to work unsupervised, and to liaise effectively with developers, end users, managers & colleagues.
•         Efficient management of documentation projects, delivering high quality materials on schedule.
•         Ownership and maintenance of documentation and UI design style guides.
•         Planning, development, delivery and administration of training courses and materials.
•         Authoring & content creation tools include MS Word, RoboHelp, Dreamweaver, Madcap Flare, HDK, FAR, FrameMaker, PowerPoint, Acrobat, Paint Shop Pro, PageMaker, UltraEdit and Fireworks. Other software skills include MS Excel & Outlook, Lotus Notes, Perforce, SourceSafe, StarTeam, and MS-DOS (including batch files and scripting).

January 2007 – the present: contract technical author & editor

Clients include:

•         ESRI UK (Feb 08-the present) – updating & editing documentation for ArcMap GIS products.
•         GE Energy (Nov/Dec 07) – updating documentation and release notes for GE Smallworld.
•         Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBCE) (Oct 2007) – editing and proofing policy documents.
•         Orange UK (Jan-Oct 07)– updating the User Experience and style guide sections of the Orange Group Device Requirements (OGDR) documents. Also creating templates, presentations, Word documents, and design & usability documentation style guides to create a consistent look and feel.

July 2004 – Nov 2006: GE Healthcare (previously IDX UK Ltd)

Senior technical author, editor and trainer (took voluntary redundancy in November 2006)

•         Writing online Help and training manuals to support the London implementation of a complex software solution (Carecast) for the NHS (National Health Service) and NPfIT (National Program for IT).
•         Creating and delivering internal training workshops in MS Word, RoboHelp and Lotus Notes, as well as external certificated training courses in the IDX/GE Carecast product to the NHS and BT.
•         Creating and maintaining documentation style guides, both for internal IDX/GE materials and for external documentation in consultation with BT and CfH (Connecting for Health), and custom MS Word templates to ensure company wide consistency.
•         Quality control, copy editing & proofing of corporate documentation, including departmental and company-wide business plans and bid proposals.
•         Scripting and managing an automated build process for the online Help.
•         Managing documentation storage and source control.
•         Managing internal and external (BT, UCLH) deliveries, also materials from a 3^rd party supplier.
•         Establishing departmental processes and procedures for ISO9001 audit and accreditation.
•         Providing usability recommendations and input into user interface design.

January 2003 – July 2004: contract technical author & editor. Clients included:

•         Nokia, Finland – writing the Series 90 style guide for Nokia developers and designers, for inclusion in the Series 90 SDK. Also:
  •         Designing custom Word templates to conform to Nokia SDK design and style.
  •         Liaising with interaction designers, software engineers, and team leaders at Nokia in Finland.
•         Mobile Innovation Ltd, London – writing the user manual, reference guide and marketing literature for TRY, a script-based tool for testing software. Also:
  •         Writing API specification documentation for user interface platform controls and widgets.
  •         Writing a compatibility, porting, and design style guide for software applications intended for multiple Symbian OS developer platforms.
  •         Reviewing and proof reading marketing material and UI specifications.
  •         Contributing to usability reviews and defect testing.

July 2001 – November 2002: Categoric Software Ltd

Technical author

•         Updating and overhauling the user documentation for Xalerts 5.1 – over 1500 Help topics in twelve linked RoboHelp HTML projects – in order to make it more user-friendly. I was able to condense the topic count to under 650 (despite additional functionality) by judicious editing and focusing on user tasks rather than on how the software behaves.
•         Writing PDF (Acrobat) and HTML documents including installation guide, “quick start” and “what’s new” guides, release notes, etc.
•         Planning and managing the documentation and its life cycle, and monitoring the software development process and liaising with engineers about proposed changes.
•         Creating HTML style sheets and documentation to accompany a Web-based application.
•         Editing and proofing training documentation and requirements specifications.
•         Making usability comments on the Xalerts user interface. As a result of my suggestions several improvements were made to the user interface.

Jan 1997 – June 2001: Psion Software Plc and Symbian Ltd

Technical author

•         Writing end user documentation and user interface specifications for Symbian software and for Psion products including the Psion Series 5, PsiWin 2, and the Philips Ilium Synergy device.
•         Preparing the above documentation for the localisation and internationalisation teams.
•         Designing and documenting the PC suite for the Nokia 9210 device, and writing the requirements and UI specifications. This involved travelling to Finland for meetings at Nokia.
•         Contributing to the design and documentation of the UIQ (Quartz) and Series 80 (Crystal) user interface reference designs, and writing the online Help for them.
•         Managing the resource files that determined the text strings displayed in the UI.
•         Contributing to discussions on usability issues such as the design, layout and wording of application views, dialogs and menus.
•         Planning and managing projects, monitoring change requests, bug reporting, and general stress testing.
•         Overhauling the user interface of CsHelp (a Java application used by Symbian developers), redesigning it and submitting my proposal to senior management; The project was approved and funded, and the revised software, accompanied by my online JavaHelp, was included in the Symbian and Nokia SDKs.
•         Screening CVs and interviewing candidates for the User Documentation team and manager.
•         Leading the team in creating innovative ideas that resulted in three patent applications.
•         Designing and maintaining the user documentation Intranet Web site.
•         Designing bespoke templates for company documentation.

Jan 1989 – Dec 1996: London Borough of Wandsworth Social Services

Mental health worker

•         Providing individual and group counselling and psychotherapy.
•         Running a drop-in service giving informal support and advice.
•         Supervising staff and students and handling financial and security issues for managers.
•         Liaising with mental health professionals in the NHS to plan service provision.
•         Designing and distributing publicity & promotional materials.
•         Computer maintenance & staff IT training.

1988 and before

•         Aug 1987 – Nov 1988: Community arts worker, Haringey Community Workshops. Running arts and performance workshops for elderly and disabled people and children.
•         Jan 1984 – Nov 1987: Sound engineer and musician with some theatrical work (acting, script writing, lighting engineer, etc.), Sir George Robey public house and music venue.
•         Mar 1982 – Jan 1984: Sous-chef, Ormonds restaurant, Ormond Yard SW1. Responsibilities included menu planning and the ordering and maintenance of stock.
•         1980 – 1981: Editor and writer (self-employed). Researching and writing the Rothmans International Atlas of World Sport and a biography of the actor Tony Hancock.
•         1975 – 1980: Musician and entertainer (self-employed). Regular performances on the pub folk/rock circuit and in musical revues in London, Ireland and Europe.

•         Advanced RoboHelp (GE Healthcare, 2006)
•         Presentation skills (IDX, 2006)
•         Carecast core concepts & Carecast screen builder (IDX, 2005)
•         Adobe Framemaker (Transmedia Training for Adobe certification, 2002)
•         Project planning & Macromedia Dreamweaver (Symbian, 2001)        
•         Performance leadership & the Capability Maturity Model (Symbian, 2000)
•         Working effectively & time management (Symbian, 1998)
•         User Interface design (Psion, 1998)
•         Advanced Word for Windows & Adobe Pagemaker (Psion, 1997)
•         Introduction to analytic psychotherapy (London Centre for Psychotherapy, 1992)
•         Psychoanalysis in Britain today (Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1991)
•         Introductory general course in group work (Institute of Group Analysis, 1989)
•         3 GCE "A" level and 7 GCE "O" level passes (William Ellis School, London, 1972/74)

Although most of my leisure time is devoted to my family, I still have a keen interest in music and enjoy home recording with Cubase (I play guitar & bass guitar, sing, and write songs). I have also co-written a number of screenplays with a film director friend of mine.

I have a clean driving licence, and I swim and cycle regularly.

I have excellent computer skills, and have a Web site (http://www.btinternet.com/~jeremy.browning/jerry.htm) and a musical Weblog (http://www.witchseason.blogspot.com/).

I speak French, and am a member of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC).