Picture with Words

In this shared session Steve Moss and Grant Mackenzie will demonstrate the benefits of using video screencasts to deliver material that has traditionally been delivered in written form.

If you are currently writing online help or technical documentation - with an emphasis on the "written" aspect go through the presentation to find out more about why you should consider using video-based content.

Document Development Life Cycle

Technical Documentation is not just a process of writing. Before the actual content creation starts there are many phases a writer has to pass through.

Just as Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), technical writing field also has Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC). There are no unique set of stages in a DDLC. Every organization follows a personalized approach for executing their documentation projects. In general, the following list covers most common stages of information development. 

 Documentation Development Life Cycle Phases



Note: This is one of the most common blog posts amongst technical writers. You will get many variants of the same life cycle. I have created this cycle as per my understanding and experience.

Kick-Off: The customer may have an idea about what documents are required for the project even before the software development has started. Alternatively, the customer might not have any idea whether the project needs documentation or not. In either cases, you as a technical documentation expert should have an idea about the scope of the documentation.

Information & Audience Analysis: During this phase, you must gather the useful information of the project and understand all the user documentation requests. It requires a lot interview sessions and surveys to gauge the exact requirements of the project. It is also necessary to understand the readers of your documents. This process is called audience analysis.

Planning & Estimation: After gathering all the necessary information, you can estimate the amount of time and resources required for completing the project during this phase. Based on the estimation, you can devise a feasible plan of execution.

Content Creation: In this stage, you create the content as per the design. But, content creation is not only about writing. It involves other necessary things such as adding relevant illustrations, images, and cross-references.

Review & Testing: Review is one of the most important phases of DDLC. In this phase, your peer (another technical writer or subject matter expert-SME) reviews the content. Generally, it is advisable to follow a “Writer-Developer-SME” approach in review, i.e. first review by writer, second review by developer and the last review by the SME.

Publishing: Once a document is thoroughly reviewed, it can be sent for publication. The same document can be used for various output formats, for example, print (PDF) and online (web help). So, during this phase, you may use as many publication options as per your distribution requirements.

Feedback & Maintenance: This final stage of DDLC ensures that there is a follow up on the documents that are delivered. A proper feedback should also be taken and in case of any discrepancies, you should make sure that the errors are solved and never repeated again.

P.S. In the next few days, I will cover each of these stages as individual topics in detail.

Principles for Effective Technical Communication - 2

You, as a writer should able to understand and anticipate the challenges listed in the previous post.  Your job is to make your users’ tasks easier. So, you can address the challenges using these seven writing guidelines.

7 - Habits of Highly Effective Technical Writer

1. Analyze the subject thoroughly
2. Group information wisely
3. Guide the user and help them find information
4. Elaborate or compress the information scope based on importance
5. Be precise while using words
6. Be crisp and clear with your information
7. Review, review and re-review your information 

1.  Analyze the subject thoroughly.

• Before you start writing a topic, you must have a knowledge base in your mind. You must gather information from existing documents. If possible, you must talk to subject matter experts and study the product extensively.

2.  Group information wisely.

• Group similar topics together
• Each section should be complete and should have an introduction, body and conclusion
• Order the information groups appropriately

            > If you are describing a process, list the steps chronologically

            > To explain something, move from general to specific points
            > To document a project try ordering by problems-methods-solutions
            > To persuade, order your arguments from most to least significant

3.  Guide the user and help them find information.

• Give introduction to let user know what should they expect
• Give summary of what you have covered in the topic
• Use headings, lists, and other formatting devices to make the information accessible.
• Highlight appropriate areas using Note, Tip and Warning statements.

4.  Elaborate or compress the information scope based on importance.

• If you are explaining a complex process involving multiple steps, it is worth adding elaborate steps. Whereas, if you are writing about a commonly used procedure you may write the steps concisely.

Note: Understand your audience before implementing this step.

5.  Be precise while using words.

• Use technical terms correctly and appropriately for the audience. Avoid unnecessary jargon.
• Avoid using vague and ambiguous words
• Avoid lengthy noun phrases
• Avoid using adverbs like actually, apparently, basically, briefly, certainly, clearly, conceivably, confidentially, curiously, evidently, fortunately, hopefully, ironically, etc

6.  Be crisp and clear with your information.

• Avoid wordy phrases: Keep the information simple and understandable. Some wordy phrases might sound "smarter" but they can make documents long and can annoy readers as well. Few examples,

Wordy	Consice
Adequate number of	Enough
At all times	Always
Except when	Unless
For the purpose of	For
In an effort to	To

• Combine short sentences wherever possible. Reconsider breaking a long sentence into short meaningful sentences.
• Generally, favor the active voice over the passive voice. Active sentences are generally shorter and direct. Active voice reduces ambiguity and conveys your message clearly.

   
7.  Review your information repeatedly.

• Review content for errors like formatting, spelling, punctuation, and labels (tables and figures).
• Proofread! Allow some time (even if just a few hours) to pass between drafting and revising the document.
• Edit in parts. Take short breaks while reviewing as well.
• Prepare a checklist based on your review mistakes and observations.

Though, this list is not complete, it  highlights some of the common areas where a technical writer can improve and thereby deliver quality documentation to the customers. For more information on challenges faced by beginners, see Challenges of an Aspiring Technical Writer.

Principles for Effective Technical Communication - 1

You must understand the users of your application well to create documents for them. This post covers the principles required effective communcation.

In the first part, I will demonstrate some of the common errors, we as technical writers make, especially in the beginning of our careers. In the next part, I will list down some of the common principles for effective technical communication.

What annoys the reader?

Vague purpose or context: "What is this write-up trying to convey? How does it fit in the larger picture? "

• You must make sure the information you are providing is not isolated. It should be appear as part of a complete guide or help. Such errors are encountered in topic based authoring.

Confused organization or logic: “Why is the reference appearing before the subject? Why is the flow missing?”

• You must plan your content creation in a logical manner. For example, you may not want to provide explanation about a specific matter before introducing it.

Unclear introductions and conclusions: “I have read this tutorial, now what? What do I achieve reading this?”

• You should clearly define the importance of the written content. You must include appropriate information about the goals in the introduction and conclusion of a topic.

Too much or too less detail: “Why some areas are over emphasized? Why does some content seem peripheral?”

• In no case should a writer try to hide information while writing about a subject. You must make sure that you have gathered enough knowledge about the matter and then prepare content. Simple topics should be explained being less verbose depending on your audience.

Long sentences, jumbled expressions: “Why does this paragraph contain a single line? It is so wordy and time consuming. It has distorted my knowledge on the subject.”

• You must try to write short and meaningful sentences. The reader should be able to make sense of the content at the end of each paragraph.

Improper use of technical terms and concepts: “Why are the jargons misplaced?”

• Do not try to demonstrate your technical expertise in your writing. The content is necessarily prepared for users who want to understand the subject well. So, explain the topic in relatively simple terms.

Writing flaws: “Messy document. The writer should have checked the document for consistency, grammar, etc before shipping. ”

• Bad English or grammar errors can distract a user from the subject. You should recheck your content thoroughly before sending it out to the users.

Though writing is a subjective stream, there are certain facts which remain. You must always take up such challenges from your readers in form of feedback. This will help you to understand the mindset of readers and thus improve your skill set. In the next post, I will demonstrate the 7 habits of highly effective technical writer.

The Tipping Point – Global Audience

If you have been following this blog and are searching for global resources to make a great career in technical writing, this post would help you understand from where can you start.

It would be really good if you can find a renowned local institution for technical writing in or near your city (It would be difficult for me to jot to three best schools at every location :) ). But, the most prevalent method of learning is taking online courses. These courses are a good way to start off your knowledge exercise.

I would briefly provide a list of top three types of online courses I have heard of:

1. Utah State University
2. Webster Tech Writers
3. Technical Writers Block  

Apart from these institutes, Internet has a huge pool of informative blogs and websites by international authors. These writers have vast experience in technical communication and provide all the latest updates in the market.

Here are few of the free resources you can start with:  

• http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Technical_writing
• http://www.twin-india.org/TWIN_Book.chm
• http://www.twin-india.org/TWIN_Book2.chm
• http://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/

Along with the learning, the best way to understand technical documentation is working on a freelancing project or getting employment. So, the next post would be how to get into the market with your acquired skills.

P.S. This post is dedicated to the global audience. The Indian enthusiasts, please refer to the previous post.

Technical Writer's Toolbox

Technical Writing at the end of the day is not only about writing, but writing effectively (for the reader to grasp). So, to facilitate this need, there are several documentation tools available in the market. If you want a comprehensive list to get an idea about list of tools available, please refer the following link:

http://www.writersua.com/surveys/tools12/index.html

But, the problem with the list is that it does not segregate information as per usability. Traditionally, there are two different output formats readers expect their documentation viz. Printed (Adobe PDF) and Online (HTML Help). So, I will distribute various tools based on their expertise to generate specific output.

There are many other output formats like CHM, Wiki, HTML Help, eLearning videos, etc. Apart from that there are various enhancements tool used extensively in technical documentation.

Printed Publishing – Provides authoring and publishing PDF options

• Adobe PDF
• Microsoft Word
• Adobe Framemaker
• MadCap Flare
• WebWorks
• Author-IT
• DITA Open tool kit
• XMetal

Online Publishing – Provides authoring and HTML publishing options (Also supports CHM and HTML Help)

• RoboHelp
• Madcap Flare
• Dreamweaver
• Frontpage
• Doc-To-Help

Wiki – Provides interactive and collaborative environment where multiple authors can contribute

• Atlassian Confluence
• Microsoft SharePoint

Image Enhancement tools – Provides image enhancements facilitation

• Corel CorelDraw
• Techsmith SnagIT
• Adobe Photoshop
• Madcap Capture 

eLearning Tools – Provides environment for creating video tutorials for eLearning

• Madcap Mimic
• Adobe Captivate
• Techsmith Camtasia 

There are specific XML editing tools like XMetal and DITA which are currently beyond the scope of this post. On the whole, all these tools are used extensively by various technical writers based on their company’s discretion or their personal choice.  

Challenges of an Aspiring Tech Writer

Before diving into the field of technical communication, I would like to notify you about the challenges that you might have to face in your day-to-day work regime.

As majority of the technical authors in the industry are either from technical or communication background, I will limit the scope of this post to candidates from these prospective fields. But, in all likelihood, the challenges mentioned here are applicable to all the aspiring technical writers irrespective of their medium of study.

Technical Challenges

The primary problem with technology students is that they have never taken writing too seriously. Even if they are good with English language, they have never paid too much importance to grammar. If English is not their first language, it also adds to the chaos. So, here are the challenges and their possible solutions:

• Grammar Basics: If grammar is your pain area, you might want to reconsider your decision of getting into technical documentation. If not, I would suggest you should brush your English grammar skills. There are many websites that can help you in revisiting all the grammar you learnt in school. Links. Other alternatives can be renting a grammar book from your nearby library. Grammar Resources.
• Editorial Skills: If your grammar is good, you might not have much trouble in editing content. But, as an editor it is important to make the content readable. All the information put together should be directed to your audience.

 I am sure, the final year reports might have been a demanding job for many of you out there.

Communication Challenges

The primary problem the communication students have is their lack of exposure to technology. So, here are the challenges and their possible solutions:

• Technology: If you belong to the communication stream, it can be difficult to connect with technology at times. Here, the technology means greater things than Websites and Smartphone applications. We are talking out magnanimous ERP or Mainframe applications driving the telecom, security and manufacturing industries. So, it is really important for you to have a mind that anticipates technological assertiveness. 
• Understanding Product: The ability to understand the product can also be a major challenge due to the lack of academic exposure to various technology products. But, that can be solved over a period of time.
• Making Sense: Another connected aspect is making sense out of what you write. You might be an excellent English writer but if the information you provide is not as per the products requirements, the overall output will be hazy and incomplete. So, it really important to focus on getting exactly what is required for the product.

Common Challenges

• Audience Analysis: You must write for a specific reader. The audience is really important in technical writing and you should always have that at the back of your mind. More about it in the coming blog post on Audience Analysis.
• Understanding User’s Perspective: You must understand the user and usability of the application. It is again related to audience of the application. But, your insight on usability is fairly rated as you are the first user of the product.
• Documentation Tools: Though, technical writing is about writing, but it also employs various tools for creating content and generating output in required form. The regular output formats are: Web Based Help, PDF Help and Video Tutorials.

To sum it up, you must have zeal for writing, if you want to be a good technical writer. If have that fervor, there are enough online/classroom courses available that can help you learn the art and science of technical communication.

Am I eligible ?

Yes and No.

There has been enough debate about who can be a technical writer. But, my experience and study of this field has helped me deduce certain facts that might interest you.

• Technical Writing is an age old career stream. Technical Writing existed even before the advent of Information Technology. The documentation experts used to provide their services to various domains like manufacturing, oil and gas, and even aerospace. Those writers were industry experts in their respective technologies with sound writing and grammar skills.
• With Information Technology it became a different ball game altogether. Technical Writers began to generate information through various documentation mediums like Microsoft Word, Framemaker, RoboHelp, etc.
• And, with the invention of Internet, the information exploded online.

Throughout this journey of technical documentation, writers and their academic background also have been changing continuously.

Majority of the writers come from two educational streams:

• Technology – Engineering and Information Technology
• Writing – Arts and other communication fields

But, there are people who hail from different backgrounds and end up as technical writers. For example, one of my colleagues studied pharmacy in college. He started his career as a Medical Transcription writer and then stabilized his career in technical documentation.  

To succeed as a technical writer, you ought to be in love with technology. For example, it is of prime importance that you understand how gadgets work or how websites navigate. Another important aspect of technical documentation is how comfortable you are with English. For non-native English writers, it would be really necessary to take up a course in technical communication before plunging into this field. More about this in the next post.

At the end of the day, the choice still remains. If you think you enjoy the riddles of consistent, error-free and disciplined writing, technical documentation is the field for you.