plain usability

The Plain English movement is alive and well. Before it was formalized into a proper noun, we called it good technical writing. Scott's example is funny, and I appreciate his comments about appropriate documentation for a busy work environment. But that, I think, is exactly the space we (technical communicators) should be focused on. Too often we see decisions about environmental analysis left to industrial and instructional designers. As content developers, those decisions saddle us to craft an information product in a predetermined environmental context. It's part of the argument for a holistic treatment of technical communication as an inter-disciplinary practice.