About

Background

I began my career as a tech writer by documenting networking and phone systems for the University of Minnesota. While working towards my MS in Technical and Scientific Communication (also at the U of M), I switched to a consulting role with a small company in Minneapolis. Being farmed out to organizations such as 3M, Target, and the Hennepin County Library system gave me the opportunity to experience a wide range of documentation approaches and structures. While finishing my PhD (still at the U of M!) I worked for about a year as a Senior Technical Writer at Best Buy Corporate. After defending my dissertation I came to Central Washington University where I've helped develop online courses and programs and taught a wide range of professional and technical writing courses, including usability and accessible information design.

One of my passions as an online teacher is to think of the writing that goes into course development as a technical writing challenge. Online courses involve massive amounts of text and large and complex file systems. I've recently developed (with the coding help from a variety of LLMs) a python-based system that lets anyone creating materials for the Canvas Learning Management System to work on plain-text Markdown files on their computers and push course content into Canvas. This approach opens up all kinds of possibilities, especially when LLM coding agents are brought into the mix.

I am excited to bring my skillset and perspectives to help solve the documentation problems with your organization.

Philosophy

I believe that effective documentation:

  • Is User Centered – It is written to support the reader's goals.
  • Makes Intelligent Choices about Intelligent Tools – It uses LLMs to reduce manual work but not to replace authentic human writing.
  • Lives in version control – It can be tracked, reviewed, and tested like code.
  • Fits the workflow – It is integrated into development processes, not put together after development is complete.

Below are some of my own projects that use a docs-as-code approach:

  • Canvas Docs-as-Code – Python tool for authoring Canvas LMS courses from Markdown and YAML
  • Canvas API Scripts – Utilities for working with Canvas LMS API
  • Intervals.icu Uploader – Automation tool for managing workout plans

Browse the portfolio to see more.