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Subject:Re: Capturing info during meetings with SMEs From:Kirsten Zerbinis <salmonzerbinis -at- rogers -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 5 Jun 2003 14:15:59 -0400
Just to establish context, I work in software user docs, and so far
I've never had the benefit of much being written down before I got
there (specs, early docs, etc.), so I get most of my information from
interviews.
I'm devoted to my laptop, for several reasons.
1) I'm a very fast touch-typist, and I've been practising this
note-taking technique since first-year university, so I can do it
quickly, and generally without breaking eye-contact with the person I'm
talking to.
2) I never lose my notes.
3) I have this awesome laptop, a 1GHz G4 (Powerbook) that I always get
asked about, so it provides a bit of an icebreaker topic. I find this
to be a helpful way to begin to talk to techie SMEs, and to begin to
establish my credibility as someone who knows, likes, and values
technology in general. My education is all Liberal Arts, so for me,
this is an important thing to establish.
I'd love to hear from the rest of you about information capture
techniques. Particularly, I'm interested in whether you end up going
back to SMEs repeatedly, to get refinements of the information, or
whether you're able to retain most of it in the first go. Is this a
function of experience or prior background in the field?
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