Re: This too is technical communication

["Raj Machhan" <raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I am digressing a bit from what Mike has said. This is about good technical
writers and 'professional idiots'.
In my opoinion the demand for quality technical writers is in for a quantum
jump in the coming years. I will tell yuou how:
There are generally two types of corporates: First, we have the "smart'
companies. These are the companies that realize the importance of quality
documentation and take pains to ensure that the customer gets nothing but
the best.
In the second category we have what I term as the 'dumb' corporates. These
companies generally consider documentation as an unnecessary add-on and do
not pay much attention to quality of their manuals, fact sheets etc. (Now
you know how the "idiot writers''  get to make a living).
The smart companies realize that product quality alone is not enough to push
sales in highly competitive markets. This because quality and pricing are
fast losing ground as the main differentiatiors between products. Corporates
now have ready access to latest technologies, which means that the products
in a particular price range do not differ much in terms of quality
and features. Now this is where the quality of user guides, help
files, installation guides etc assume importance, especially in software.  I
think of software documentation as the 'face' of the product. What does one
do before/after buying an application CD-ROM? Yes, one generally flip
through the user manual or other documents explaining the product. A shoddy
document reflects poorly on the overall appeal of a product. On the other
hand, top-quality documentation sends out a strong message about a company's
concern to deliver the best to its customers. Smart companies continue to
raise their standards of documentation - to a point where the
documents alone are enough to sell a product.



On 6/6/07, Mike Starr <mikestarr-techwr-l -at- writestarr -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Just to clarify here (since I'm the one who started this "clueless idiot"
> portion of the thread)...
>
> I never PLAY dumb but I may ask an SME to explain things to me as if I'm
> completely ignorant of the underlying technology.
>
> Mike
> --
> Mike Starr                            WriteStarr Information Services
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>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stuart Burnfield" <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au>
> To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 3:19 AM
> Subject: RE: This too is technical communication
>
> > Lauren said:
> >> I don't understand why people keep confusing the process with the
> >> product. The process makes sense. Play dumb and get as much
> >> information as necessary. The product, a document, obviously, will
> >> not have all of that information, but it can be much more clear
> >> compared to a product that has limited information because the
> >> writer will have enough information to complete a cogent document.
> >
> > I don't understand where playing dumb comes into it. I know some things
> > about the product and the users, I don't know others. I ask questions to
> > find out the things that I need to know but don't.
> >
> > Before I interview an engineer or SME I do as much research as I can so
> > that I can ask intelligent questions and understand the answers. I want
> > the SMEs to feel that I respect their time so much that I won't waste it
> > by asking unnecessary questions.
> >
> >> I am really confused as to why people keep saying that the
> >> documentation written from information gathered by somebody taking
> >> the stance of a clueless idiot will only apply to clueless idiots.
> >> The product is not the process. Of course, documentation will not
> >> be written for clueless idiots, but the stance of the writer in the
> >> information gathering process can be that of a clueless idiot. How
> >> did people get so lost and confuse the product with the process?
> >
> > The SME has a lot of information. Some of it I already know, some I need
> > to know, some I don't need directly but may be useful as background. I
> > need to use my TW skills to pass the useful info on to the readers in a
> > clear and accessible format. No-one in this transaction is an idiot or a
> > forklift driver--not the SME, not me, not the users.
> >
> > If the SME mentions RS485 connectors and it seems to be important, I'm
> > not shy about asking what an RS485 connector is. I'm not asking because
> > I'm playing dumb or because I feel dumb, I asking because it's something
> > I need to know so that I can do my job.
> >
> > You say "the stance of the writer in the information gathering process
> > can be that of a clueless idiot" but I don't see where this would be
> > better than just taking the stance of a busy TW asking questions of a
> > busy SME.
> >
> > Stuart
>
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