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Subject:Re: Document Wildly Until Someone Blows A Whistle From:TechComm Dood <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 5 Jan 2005 19:45:47 -0500
> Great question Sharon! I think it was JoAnne Hackos
> who once wrote that the way most Tech Writers proceed
> is that they document wildly until someone "blows a
> whistle".
>
> I agree that often - maybe most often - that is the
> way the world REALLY works. Basically, after the
> whistle is blown, the TWs just find a reason to
> radically cut things off and "call it a wrap".
Nothing ever gets done that way. I've worked with a few writers who
write like that. They never lasted very long... usually quit or were
shown the door in about a year's time. Why? They aren't productive
(they produce a lot, but much is unusable), they aren't predictable,
and they cannot scope a project.
> For good estimates, you just don't estimate. The first
> thing, and the real boggie, is properly scoping out
> the project and then "chunking" the system into
> right-size pieces (i.e. relatively small and equal
> size pieces). This is real interesting - when was the
> last time you heard a good discussion on how to
> properly scope out and "chunk" a system - other than
> my rants on this listserv about Data Flow Diagramming.
I agree with you there, and this is what I try to impress upon my
team. But, and maybe this is what you meant... After you're done with
the conceptual chunking you can then estimate from there.
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