RE: Do we need separate training guides?

["John Rosberg" <jrosberg -at- interwoven -dot- com>]

While I'm sure that there ARE improvements to be made (if it was made,
it can be improved), please keep in mind that Tech Docs and Training are
not at all interchangeable.

While the core data may be similar or identical, training guides should
be designed to accompany a specific learning experience (instructor led
or self-guided), and can be very specific as to scenarios, what the
student will see and what is expected.

Docs, on the other hand, live in the real world, where entropy is
winning -- you cannot accurately predict with what the reader will be
faced, what the most appropriate response should be, or even if they are
looking at the portion of the product you expect.

About the closest to training materials that docs get are tutorials (in
some shops).

There are certainly opportunities for a good single sourcing methodology
- two branches are the answer, I believe, but help for execs seems less
than entirely useful -- one never knows who is doing what, even in a
union shop.

Please let us know what the outcome is -- an interesting problem!

rosberg
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Ng [mailto:kjng -at- gprotechnologies -dot- com] 
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 6:08 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Do we need separate training guides?

Hi
We are currently have online help for our software built with robohelp.
Our project deployment engineers, arelooking forward to a printable
training guide. Do we need to develop two different sets of
documentation, one a training guide and another branch of documentation
for online help.

* Online help is written as per standard help documentation for
software. Adding this, Splitting that...etc. (Robohelp)

* The training guides (MSWord) are grouped into different job areas or
positions, since different users use different features of the products,
derives information from the help files, with review questions at the
end.

For the old product line, I developed two different branches, maintained
them separately....redundant work, lots of copy paste change issues...
The older you get, the wiser you get I guess.

Anyway, new product, new lease of life. No legacy yet...


There is only one of me, and a translator, so lean management is the key
now.

Questions: 

Would you restructure my help documentation, write it like training
guides?  Ie. For Executives...etc For Production ....

Merge development platform all into Robohelp but maintain two different
branches of documentation?

Keep it as is, nothing needs improvin'?

Get Flare?


Love your ideas.

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