Portfolio
Writing
User interface (UI) text:
-- To address the problem of customers delaying updates to their Windows 10 PCs, I wrote UI text that tried to
convince customers to update. The text is now less aggressive and focuses on the value of installing updates.
-- UI text and support content for the Accounts feature in Windows 10. See Settings > Accounts.
-- UI text and support content for the Display feature in Windows 10. See Settings > System > Display.
Copywriting:
-- I wrote the text that promoted apps in the Store for the first year after its release. I also developed the style
guidelines for the Store that were used in local markets worldwide.
Support content:
-- I conceived, designed, wrote the text, and created the art for the Windows Quick Start Guides. There's a general
introduction to Microsoft Edge, tips for better searching, and ways to collaborate. Guides intended for the information
worker audience, such as getting the most out of the desktop at work, finding a network printer, and bringing your
own device to work. And guides about using the Maps, Photos, Defender, and Store apps.
-- I've written support content for many features over multiple releases of Windows, including for Windows Media
Player, accounts, device drivers, displays, the Music app, Video app, updating and upgrading, and so on. Here's an
online help topic about getting started with Windows Media Player, and here's an FAQ about codecs.
Style guides:
-- I wrote Chapter 1, "Microsoft voice and style," and Chapter 2, "Content for the web," of the Microsoft Manual of
Style, 4th Ed., which is more commonly known as the Microsoft Style Guide for Technical Publications (MSTP).
-- I defined and documented the Windows Store style guidelines.
-- I wrote the style guidelines for the first videos included in Windows consumer support content.
Project and process documentation:
-- I wrote a plan for how to ensure editorial quality after the business group decided to eliminate editors.
-- I developed a plan for an internal content test automation tool and documented how to use the tool.
-- I investigated reducing costs by reusing developer-provided text in the Windows Store and produced this report.
Editing
Marketing content:
-- I performed several levels of edit to the product feature guides used by Marketing as the basis for their campaign
messaging for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 and Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10.
User interface (UI) text:
-- I edited text for thousands of user interactions in over 50 features, apps, error states, and more in Windows and its
related services. Here are editing samples for Windows features: fonts, recovery, reliability monitor, system control
panel, user account control, SmartScreen, and system protection.
Strategic plans and reports:
-- I edited reports of various kinds used to communicate to management. Here is a developmental and copy edit of a
report produced by the BI team about how the Windows website performed. This guide was used to define and
explain to upper management what the team did.
Technical editing:
-- As a contract editor at Microsoft, I wrote or performed various levels of edit to the following documents for a team
that was trying to help businesses migrate to Microsoft technologies:
* Microsoft Solution Guide for Windows Security and Directory Services for UNIX
* Solution Guide for Migrating UNIX Build Environments
* Microsoft Java Virtual Machine Migration Guide for Developers
* Solution Guide for Sybase/UNIX to SQL Server 2000: Database Engine Migration and Application Interoperation
Guide
* Introduction to the Microsoft Enterprise Platform for Mainframe Professionals
* Solution Guide for CATIA Migration from UNIX to Windows
-- At LSI Logic, Inc., I wrote, edited, and maintained several versions of administration and reference guides, release
notes, and white papers for the TotalNET Advanced Server product, which is no longer available. The intended
audience was system administrators who needed to set up cross-platform file and print services. The TotalNET
product was basically a commercial version of the open-source Samba server.