The value of technical writing services

Can you prove your worth? What is your impact on a business and how can you quantify the return on investment?

Using recent case studies as examples, Ruth Hamilton and the WritersInc team discuss the value of using technical writing services, and how the return on investment can be described and possibly quantified.

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.

A Writer’s Prerogative

The previous post explained the skills that a writer should have to prepare effective documentation. But what about the concepts? 

Conceptually, what should a technical writer have in mind while preparing user documentation? I was thinking whether what should be a writer’s thought process before writing about technology. Thus, this post happened.

Following are the areas which may help a technical writer conceptualize effective technical documentation process:

• Visualize your audience: Understand and if possible visualize your readers and their needs, attitudes, and most importantly, their awareness of the subject matter. Adapt your writing to these factors and their technical skills. Understand in advance what the audience would (or should) think when they have completed reading your document.

• Understand the Context: Know the context in which the readers might perceive or judge your writing. Some audience may view the information you have developed from a critics’ viewpoint. For example, if you generally use American English and the audience is British, they are extremely particular about the subtle differences between the English used in America and England. So, shape your writing according to it and always understand the scenarios.

• Formulate a sound writing plan: Good writing is a result of a sound process that includes gathering correct information, brainstorming and categorizing thoughts. The typical process would include analyzing information, creating drafts, editing them, and revising information if it does not fit into the flow of the document. Even great writers might not get a perfect write-up in a single try. You will have to spend time and keep revising your content until it is in sync with the requirements. Even if you are piled up with multiple tasks, try to invest time in composing content step by step: analyzing, drafting, editing and revising each assignment. It will reduce your efforts eventually.

On the whole, the above points provide you with a pre-writing analysis. If you comprehend these aspects well, you can clarify many of your initial doubts and save yourself some quality time on rework.  For details about basic technical writing skills, see 7 – Habits of a Highly Effective Technical Writer.

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.

Building your Portfolio - Part 2

If you are planning to shape your career as a freelance writer or actively searching a full time position, you may want to employ a broader paradigm to your portfolio. More often than not, recruiters and interviewers look for web presence that helps them understand candidate’s writing skills. So, instead of highlighting your Facebook or Twitter page, you may demonstrate your skills by your blog or website.

 

There are many things you can add to your blog or website apart from your resume. For example,

1. You can put samples of your portfolio on your website. You have better chances of showing your versatility as a website does not limit you to submit limited samples (as most interview sessions do). For more about samples, see Building your Portfolio -1.
2. You can generate HTML help pages (using RoboHelp or Flare) for demonstrating your knowledge of tools.
3. Emphasize that you are aware of latest trends in the technical communication by building articles on the topics that you have studied or have come across on the forums and other blogs (Please create original content from the knowledge you have gathered. Plagiarism is simply unacceptable for writers.)
4. You can add samples of eLearning videos to your website as well. One of the innovative ways of creating eLearning videos can be the walk-through of your own website. You can create a small tutorial showing how someone can optimally find information on your website.
5. You can also create generic user documentation templates like user guide, online help, table of contents, index, glossary, etc.

 Other General Tips: 

• Try to keep your portfolio relevant and updated. 
• Study your portfolio thoroughly. You can be thrown any question based on it. 
• Never reveal proprietary information in your portfolio. If you insist on it, always seek prior permission from the content owners.
• Always try to keep your website organized and clutter free.
• Your blog should be categorized well so that the reader can find relevant information easily.

Please leave your comments so that I can keep improving this blog.