RE: Should the Doc Manager be equal to the Dev Manager?

Subject: RE: Should the Doc Manager be equal to the Dev Manager?
From: "Giordano, Connie" <Connie -dot- Giordano -at- FMR -dot- COM>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2001 10:31:01 -0400

Kent,

It is a continuing thread for some of us! I have always advocated the idea
that TW's are more than writers or document formatters, and that
documentation is not an end product in itself. As such, it's critical to be
a part of site visits/user group discussions, and other arenas, to determine
how the product is being used in the real world, and make contributions to
its improvement. Where you have usability folks as a separate role, it may
be less likely, but somebody needs to be doing it, and in many companies,
TW's have the necessary skills and mind set to be effective at it.
Unfortunately, too many fail to push for this as a full-fledged product
design and support function, and just can't expand their self-image beyond
writer-only duties.

It's incredibly difficult to cost-justify field-testing documentation, but
it's easier to cost-justify field testing/observation of the product in use.
I may be a Senior Technical Writer by title, but my real role is product
design and user support, in all its many forms.

If you push for it, it can happen-- I finally got site visits and user
observation included in my performance objectives during my last review!

MTC

Connie Giordano



-----Original Message-----
From: Christensen, Kent [mailto:lkchris -at- sandia -dot- gov]
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 10:17 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Should the Doc Manager be equal to the Dev Manager?


re: Tech writers RARELY work directly with customers, and thus their ideas
of usability are based on ethereal ideas of usefulness and not how people
are REALLY using the products. (Plato)

Agreed, and I wonder why it's not a continuing thread on this list (like,
e.g., job finding) to discuss how to better get tech writers in touch their
with customers.

Latest Jakob Nielsen Alertbox discusses this notion (ethereal ideas) nicely.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010805.html



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