Re: User research
Ideally, user resarch is performed before the
software you're going to document is created.
Unfortunately for us that wasn't the case. We were
under pressure to create a program, so user research
was put on hold to be able to concentrate all efforts
on app. development. Now we have the chance to do it
right (the way it should have been done in the first
place). Has this happened to anyone? What did you do?
Yeah, part of it anyway. At least four different times.
Read on.
(1) Tech writer was first to perform research, just before
beta test. Product unacceptable to customers, never
shipped.
(2) Tech writer was first to discover that project would
cause unanticipated major changes in international
operations. Foreign site told TW, "It'll never
happen." Several months later project was canned.
(3) Planning was done very well, from the beginning, on
a consortium-based OS, sponsored by several companies.
Most member companies ignored the (excellent) result
and continued with their own non-consortium platforms.
(4) Excellent planning was begun on an API set. The
company was bought out during the planning phase, and
everything scrapped.
In all cases, the net result was nearly zero, and I ultimately
found work elsewhere. Interviewers wonder why I have so few
writing samples for all those years.
The tendency to scrap everything completely will still be in
place at your facility. Part way through your research effort
someone will discover that you have written no code, and will
try get your funding transferred to a project with "real action".
Your manager's task is to discover the scuttling before it
happens and stop it. If he's not paranoid, he should be.
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References:
User research: From: A.H.
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