About me
How I ended up at flow? The answer to that is quite long, but it started in high school in geography where I had to give a presentation about the sun. As I was researching how the sun worked, I quickly started making schematic illustrations and tried to translate the information I had found online into something a sixteen-year-old would understand. After the presentation, the teacher asked me: “Have you considered becoming a teacher later?” No, at the time I didn’t think that was my cup of tea, but it seems like the seed for technical writing was planted that year.
For many people, information is a source of stress: too much, too complicated, too confusing… As a technical writer, you can remove that stress (as much as possible). I’d like to dedicate myself to showing people the impact of accessible and structured content.
After my degree in linguistics and literature I was completely unfamiliar with technical writing. That changed when I started a postgraduate degree in Computer-assisted Language Mediation, which included a course on technical writing. I enjoyed figuring out the best way to tackle each new case study and DITA was a great support in this.
My internship at an AI start-up allowed me to combine my background in linguistics and a wide interest in technology. I broadened my insight into backend development and grew familiar with natural language engineering, data science, and project management. As the implementation of AI in documentation software becomes more and more common, my internship experience is now also relevant to me as a technical writer.
The quick-fire question round
Flow: Software or hardware documentation?
No preference as long as there’s a bit of a mystery for me to unravel.
Flow: Internal documentation or end user documentation?
Either way, I love delving into the psyche of the user, and I would like to write for whomever needs the clarity of documentation most.
Flow: Agile or waterfall development?
I quite like Agile. As projects progress more quickly, your skills improve to keep up and you feel more productive. I also enjoy feeling involved in the whole project, from start to finish, and to collaborate with different teams and departments. For perfectionists like me, a method like Agile is also good challenge that helps me learn and grow.
Flow: Time travel to the past or to the future?
I support progress in all areas, so hopefully that is what the future brings us.
A glimpse of the future
In the near future, my main ambition is to be a sponge that absorbs all the knowledge it can from the various projects I’ll be involved in. In the long run, I’m hoping to find some niches in which I can specialise.