The process of technical communication might appear simple according to the various articles available on the internet. It is the human factor that plays a significant role in determining the success of a technical document. Considering the example of technical documentation for software applications, it is very simple and easy if the technical writers just had to try the software and document everything according to their experience. Indeed, this was my personal opinion with regard to technical documentation until I joined my second company. In my first company, all I had to do is try the software and document its various features. The job was not so complicated owing to the simplicity of the features of the software. I never had the responsibility to prepare Release Notes and Installation Documents. The first thing I was asked to do in my second company is to prepare an installation document for a particular application. This is the place where the human element came into play. The developer for this first assignment was very encouraging and gave me all the instructions and I prepared the installation document within no time. I faced the real problem while preparing the User Guide. I was a champion of writing User Guides in my previous company and used to help my colleagues with the nuances of writing a User Guide. However, the problems surfaced in this new company when there are many elements in the application that are very complicated and best understood only by the developers and testers of the software.
The war begins.
As soon as I began documenting the application, I sought the help of the testers. There were some areas under last minute developments which the testers were not fully aware of. I was asked to consult the developers for such parts of the application. The developers were reluctant to help me. They asked me to get all the information from the testers. I realized then the developer-tester divide in my company. I brought this topic to the Project Manager. His answer to my complaint shocked me. He informed me that there was never any tiff between the developer and the tester and I as the Technical Writer sparked off an enmity between the two. Even after months, I am confused as to whom to approach. From little experience and thorough research on the internet, I found the following as the chief characteristics of the Subject Matter Expert with regards to technical communication.
1. The developers are the primary Subject Matter Experts in most cases.
2. In projects that are divided into modules and developers are unaware of the functionality of other modules except for the inter-relationship, it is the testers who form the primary Subject Matter Experts.
3. The developers or testers consider helping the technical writers a waste of their precious time. This is mostly because of the attitude of the technical writers who wait to get all the information from the Subject Matter Experts. However, it is the duty of the Technical Writers to do a considerable amount of homework before consulting the developers or testers. In most companies, documents called Product Requirement Documents or Design Documents prepared even before the development begins. The technical writers should access such documents and gather as much information as possible and solicit the help of developers only when things are ambiguous or complicated.
4. Developers and testers suggest that technical writers attend all the product development meetings and conferences to get the required information. However, most of the meetings are truly technical and the technical writer hardly gains from such meetings. Technical Writers should attend meetings where the functionality of the application is discussed or the development is planned. Finally, after the development is over and the product is ready for testing, technical writers need to attend the demo sessions to get a hang of the application.
The technical writer should involve in the SDLC or Product Development Life Cycle from the beginning and attend only the essential meetings and gather all the required information. They need to respect the time constraints of the developers and the testers. Developers and testers face enormous pressure during the release dates and find it difficult to breath through the last minute updates and changes. Technical Writers should not act as thorns under such circumstances and be prepared with all the information to make last moment changes with respect to the changes in the application.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Tapping the Customer's Mind
Ever since language was discovered and people started interacting with each other, this urge to know what the other person is thinking has been in vogue. With the international markets and increasing number of players, all the big multinational companies are clamoring to know what is inside the mind of the customer. Niche customers are a few. It takes little effort and resources for the huge companies to identify the needs and aspirations of these customers. However, when it is a product with diverse customers serving diverse needs and requirements and differing brand images, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand what is there in the minds of the consumers.
With the advent of technology in our daily lives in the form of websites and online shopping, companies are devising ways to understand the customer's tastes and preferences and formulate their marketing strategy on the basis of what the customer desires. Cookies are included in the web-pages to track the mouse clicks of the customer and inform the marketer of the process through which customer selects a product from among the many players. Nonetheless, these cookies fail to fully tap a single customer's preferences. Most of the mouse clicks are momentary and involuntary guided by marketing campaigns online. The customer exhibits a completely different taste when it comes to real time shopping where he gets adequate freedom to choose between the various varieties. More customers aspire for the physical feel before buying a product. However, statistics show a confusing trend where the people who prefer online shopping and real time shopping are equally divided.
Marketing campaigns earlier used to be a mix of print media, outdoor hoardings, and TV commercials as the dominant players. The internet has crept in very fast to become one of the most dominant players in this campaign. Indeed, there are certain companies established just to help you in your online marketing activities. A single click by a customer has become so significant that companies are trying in various ways to make the customer go to a web site and click on a link. Mouse clicks have become an important aspect of revenue generation for such companies that are bent in making online campaigns. Interestingly, customers are ignoring the colorful mails with offers from different companies. Email marketing is fast loosing its sheen. The fact that email marketing might soon come in a new wave cannot be ruled out in these turbulent times. Anticipation seems to be a difficult task, especially when it is related to the customer's tastes and preferences.
Experts suggest that customer research is the only way to identify their tastes and preferences. Online research firms are mushrooming and storming the customer mails again. Request mails to customers to spare a few minutes are abundant. The information that the customers provide are sent to the respective marketers and companies. Regardless of understanding the real customer needs, tastes and preferences, many people are thriving on this aspect of marketing especially with the advent of internet into our everyday lives.
With the advent of technology in our daily lives in the form of websites and online shopping, companies are devising ways to understand the customer's tastes and preferences and formulate their marketing strategy on the basis of what the customer desires. Cookies are included in the web-pages to track the mouse clicks of the customer and inform the marketer of the process through which customer selects a product from among the many players. Nonetheless, these cookies fail to fully tap a single customer's preferences. Most of the mouse clicks are momentary and involuntary guided by marketing campaigns online. The customer exhibits a completely different taste when it comes to real time shopping where he gets adequate freedom to choose between the various varieties. More customers aspire for the physical feel before buying a product. However, statistics show a confusing trend where the people who prefer online shopping and real time shopping are equally divided.
Marketing campaigns earlier used to be a mix of print media, outdoor hoardings, and TV commercials as the dominant players. The internet has crept in very fast to become one of the most dominant players in this campaign. Indeed, there are certain companies established just to help you in your online marketing activities. A single click by a customer has become so significant that companies are trying in various ways to make the customer go to a web site and click on a link. Mouse clicks have become an important aspect of revenue generation for such companies that are bent in making online campaigns. Interestingly, customers are ignoring the colorful mails with offers from different companies. Email marketing is fast loosing its sheen. The fact that email marketing might soon come in a new wave cannot be ruled out in these turbulent times. Anticipation seems to be a difficult task, especially when it is related to the customer's tastes and preferences.
Experts suggest that customer research is the only way to identify their tastes and preferences. Online research firms are mushrooming and storming the customer mails again. Request mails to customers to spare a few minutes are abundant. The information that the customers provide are sent to the respective marketers and companies. Regardless of understanding the real customer needs, tastes and preferences, many people are thriving on this aspect of marketing especially with the advent of internet into our everyday lives.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Marketing Strategy
Consider the way in which Hindustan Lever Limited has succeeded in securing a strong market hold in India. Beginning its journey with low cost products such as Lifebuoy, Lux and Sunsilk hair care products, it has now extended its market to expensive products such as Dove, Surf Excel, & cosmetics such as Lakme. Lifebuoy soap began its journey in 1895 and is dubbed as the world's largest selling soap after its remarkable re-launches in 2002 and 2004. Ever since it was launched in 1978, Fair & Lovely has been the constant companion to every growing girl in India.
Tapping the rural market, HLL has introduced the concept of sachets in 1980s with minimal costs and these sachets today account for 55% of its shampoo revenues. Low unit price packs are also available for products such as soaps, detergents, and tea. Marketing Managers at HLL have the advantage of a properly structured Marketing Strategy. Marketing Strategy acts as the foundation for a successful marketing plan. Once an effective Marketing strategy is formulated, marketing objectives become clearer with measurable results. As the goals are set, the marketing team is involved in formulating marketing policies and ultimately marketing tactics to reach the end consumer. Numerous theories are available suggesting the various types of marketing strategies that can be used by an organization. The different theories of Marketing Strategies are as follows.
1. Marketing Strategies based on Product Dominance.
2. Michael Porter's Generic Strategies
3. Innovation Strategies
4. Growth Strategies
5. Aggressiveness Strategies
While formulating a Marketing Strategy, many factors are to be taken into consideration. Beginning with corporate objectives and strategy, it is necessary for the company to identify the business level objectives and strategy also. Once the objectives are identified, a market opportunity analysis has to be carried out. Who ignores the competitor before formulating a strategy? More than the competitor, the customer is very frightening. Customer analysis, of date, has been the most difficult factor to tackle. The target markets are volatile and keep changing. Similarly, it is your customers who determine the positioning strategy that you need to follow.
The analysis helps you arrive at a good marketing strategy on the basis of market situations. Different strategies need to be formulated for different market situations such as new market entries, growth markets, mature and saturated markets, and declining markets. Marketing texts abound in theories for preparing strategies in each of these situations. Certain things are easier said than done. Implementation of marketing strategies is the most difficult task. The marketing strategies have to be broken into marketing programs and plans and action sequences have to be framed properly to reach the marketing goals. If the marketing objectives and goals percolate from the top brass of the marketing management to each an every individual salesperson, it is very easy to reach them.
Tapping the rural market, HLL has introduced the concept of sachets in 1980s with minimal costs and these sachets today account for 55% of its shampoo revenues. Low unit price packs are also available for products such as soaps, detergents, and tea. Marketing Managers at HLL have the advantage of a properly structured Marketing Strategy. Marketing Strategy acts as the foundation for a successful marketing plan. Once an effective Marketing strategy is formulated, marketing objectives become clearer with measurable results. As the goals are set, the marketing team is involved in formulating marketing policies and ultimately marketing tactics to reach the end consumer. Numerous theories are available suggesting the various types of marketing strategies that can be used by an organization. The different theories of Marketing Strategies are as follows.
1. Marketing Strategies based on Product Dominance.
2. Michael Porter's Generic Strategies
3. Innovation Strategies
4. Growth Strategies
5. Aggressiveness Strategies
While formulating a Marketing Strategy, many factors are to be taken into consideration. Beginning with corporate objectives and strategy, it is necessary for the company to identify the business level objectives and strategy also. Once the objectives are identified, a market opportunity analysis has to be carried out. Who ignores the competitor before formulating a strategy? More than the competitor, the customer is very frightening. Customer analysis, of date, has been the most difficult factor to tackle. The target markets are volatile and keep changing. Similarly, it is your customers who determine the positioning strategy that you need to follow.
The analysis helps you arrive at a good marketing strategy on the basis of market situations. Different strategies need to be formulated for different market situations such as new market entries, growth markets, mature and saturated markets, and declining markets. Marketing texts abound in theories for preparing strategies in each of these situations. Certain things are easier said than done. Implementation of marketing strategies is the most difficult task. The marketing strategies have to be broken into marketing programs and plans and action sequences have to be framed properly to reach the marketing goals. If the marketing objectives and goals percolate from the top brass of the marketing management to each an every individual salesperson, it is very easy to reach them.
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