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.
1 comment:
Post a Comment