Modern Technical Communication Workflows STC Roundtable .
Modern TechnicalCommunication WorkflowsSTC Roundtable, February 2020Alan HouserPrincipal Consultant and TrainerGroup Wellesley, Inc.Tel: ey.comarh on Twitter
Obligatory “About Me”Slide Technical publishing consultant and trainer Former president, Society for TechnicalCommunication Member IEEE Procomm board ofgovernors Member OASIS DITA TechnicalCommittee, Lightweight DITASubcommittee, co-editor OASISLightweight DITA Committee Note Adjunct Instructor, Carnegie MellonUniversity
This Month in STC RoundtableModern Technical Communication Workflows February 7, 2020: Overview Webinar February 14: Workflow Information Resources February 21: Panel Discussion, Compare/ContrastOrganizations’ Workflows (2 – 3:30 pm US EasternTime) February 28: Audio Interviews
What do we mean by “Workflows”? Workflow: A process for getting things done. Technical communication workflow: An organization’sprocess for conceiving, creating, managing,delivering, and translation technical content.
Phases of the Technical CommunicationWorkflow Project initiation Initial research Content development Version and source management Publishing Translation management
It’s our ecosystems!Photo by Elke Karin Lugert on Unsplash
Project Initiation Formal or ad hoc Representation at kick-off meeting?
Initial research Audience analysis Feature analysis Task analyis
Content Development Working with SMEs Working with the product Authoring tool and approach: XML vs legacy Structured vs unstructured Topic‐oriented vs chapter‐oriented
Version and Source Management Defect tracking Source control Review and approval Release management Variation management Metadata management
PublishingPDF?HTML?Multi-channel?Voice/chatbots?
Translation ManagementLocalization vendor hand-offTranslation memory managementGlobalization considerationsNative language publishing
What influences technicalcommunication workflows? Organizational culture Business requirements Business processes Customer needs History
Organizational culture Siloed or collaborative? Developer-centric or marketing-centric? Hierarchical or flat? Preference for general-purpose or specialized tools? Preference for off-the-shelf or open-source solutions? Risk-tolerance
Business requirements Product release cycle Resource availability Product variations Market: Domestic or global? Reporting/auditing/compliance Certifications (ISO 9001)
Business processes Team composition Product lifecycle Development methodology Budgeting and reporting
Customer needs Representative users and tasks User preferences/requirements Preferred language Context of use
History“We’ve alwaysdone it this way"
New requirements get piledon to existing processes Global marketplace Product line expansion Multi-channel delivery Content customization and personalization Chatbot and voice interactions
Do your workflows support yourcustomers and your business?Can we get a slightly darker table border in our PDFs?Organization that publishes tens of thousands of pagesof reference documentation in PDF format.
Do your workflow prioritieschange as your users change?I had just finished interviewing some very nice, veryexperienced people from two massive Silicon Valleycompanies [ ] They were proud that their pagenumbers were laid out recto-verso. None of themseemed to give any thought to their readers' actualneeds, preferring their own criteria for what constituteda job well done. They used phrases like "clear, concise,correct, and complete" and avoided words like"searchable," "scannable," "attractive," and mostegregiously, "useful.”Andrew Etter, Modern Technical Writing: AnIntroduction to Software Documentation
Is your team invested in yourworkflows?Writer: “I went through our documentation and made thetopic headings more consistent. And my manager gotangry with me!”
Is your team invested in yourworkflows?Writer: “I went through our documentation and made thetopic headings more consistent. And my manager gotangry with me!”Manager: “One of our writers edited our finalizedcontent. And cost us hundreds of dollars in unbudgetedtranslation expenses!”
Special Cases and ChallengesDesign requirementsSupporting multiple concurrent product versionsSupporting product variationsLocalizationUser-generated contentCollaboration among authorsEnsuring consistencyAnd many others!
QuestionsHow closely do you work with your productdevelopment team? Are you or your writers tightlyintegrated with the entire product developmentlifecycle?Do you have opportunities to learn about the needs,preferences, and requirements of your readers?Does your organizational culture support collaborativeinvolvement with all aspects of product development?Do you get appropriate support from subject-matterexperts, your product teams, and management?
QuestionsHow well-defined are your processes for: Defining documentation deliverables? Review and approval Defect reporting and tracking Version control and source file management
QuestionsAre there any components of your documentationworkflow that don’t provide value to your organization orto your customers?What requirements does your organization impose thatcomplicate your documentation workflow?What things do you do because “we’ve always done itthis way”?
Resources
Resources Modern Technical Writing: An Introduction toSoftware Documentation, Andrew Etter Docs Like Code, Anne Gentle Content Strategy: Connecting the dots betweenbusiness, brand, and benefits, Rahel Bailie and NozUrbina Content Everywhere: Strategy and Structure ForFuture-Ready Content, Sara Wachter-Boettcher Content Strategy 101, Sarah O’Keefe and AlanPringle
Contact Me!I hope you enjoyed this webinar!Alan Houserarh@groupwellesley.comarh on p Wellesley, Inc.6425 Living Place, 2nd FloorPittsburgh, PA 15206USA412-450-0532www.groupwellesley.com
Member OASIS DITA Technical Committee, Lightweight DITA Subcommittee, co-editor OASIS Lightweight DITA Committee Note Adjunct Instructor, Carnegie Mellon University. This Month in STC Roundtable . Modern Technical Writing: An Introduction to Software Documentation, Andrew Etter
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