RE: Interview what Interview? (WAS: Capturing info during meeting s with SMEs)

[Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> Does everyone do SME interviews but me?  Am I a
> "faux" technical writer. I
> kinda thought I was approaching the same pedestal as
> Geoff and John :)

Well, I wouldn't call what I do "interviewing". Here's
my scenario:

Project is scoped, specs are maybe released (maybe
not). Dev starts running, I start running. I pull a
preliminary build over to my test environment, and get
it running with some elbow grease, colorful language,
and coffee. I then start comparing the scoped changes
with what I see (either in the GUI or in the API).

Now, when I hit a "wall" (that is, a true "WTF"
moment), I walk over to Dev to see what's up. Usually
we sit and chat a bit, during which time I explain
where I am and what I need in detail. I set the pace
and the guidelines for the conversation this way, and
then jot down a few buzzwords on a notepad to remind
myself of what I need to investigate further.

I don't go to them for answers, because most times
they simply don't have them, or they're not the
answers I need. I simply get some hints that'll help
me continue to plow on through the product. 

I become intimate with the product, as only I (the
tech writer) can determine what the true answers are
to communicate to the users. All dev can tell me is
what they did and how the thing works, which may or
may not be helpful.

=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)

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