Technical writing is about communication, which is also the foundation of graphic design. I’ve long been a follower of Edward Tufte’s work, which discusses the nexus of technical communication and good design.
Some of the best examples are in Tufte’s book Visual and Statistical Thinking (Graphic Press LLC, 1997) in his chapter, “Displays of Evidence for Making Decisions.” Tufte discusses the 1854 cholera epidemic in London, and how a map made by John Snow (who knew everything!) based on data collected from the General Register Office showed exactly where a faulty water pump was the cause of the cholera outbreak. Snow shows the ability to make quantitative comparisons based on a map he created. The map was not the definitive reason, but it led to the decisions taken by officials to consider the faulty water pump and without it the plague may have raged on and killed many more people.
In another example, Tufte discusses the disastrous decision to launch the space shuttle Challenger, which we know now had faulty O-rings. Tufte rightly points out that there are various interpretations of the accident and this is not a simple nor easy matter to conclude, but he discusses how the presentation of data given to NASA on the possibility of delaying the launch was flawed, not only in the engineering analysis, but also the visual presentation of this analysis, and this ultimately led to NASA rejecting the advice to delay. (Again, this is not intended as a simple overview of this case.)
All of this is to say that design plays a huge role in technical communication.
So back to the question of whether tech writers should be designers.
No, but design experience helps. I am slightly biased in that I have significant design experience, but the best tech writing roles do not ask me to design. They ask me to collaborate and manage and reason with design in support of the technical documentation. To me, design and words can go together beautifully, especially in a world where consumption of data is lightning fast, people are encouraged to be visual, and pictures, as they say, are worth a thousand words.
The right words then, accompanied by 1000-word-worth images, could be the best combination of documentation that must be read and understood—especially if life or death decisions rest on it.
