Re: Information gathering.....

Subject: Re: Information gathering.....
From: "Tom Johnson" <tomjohnson1492 -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: "Al Geist" <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:43:44 -0600

I once ran into a business analyst who said he implemented a technique like
this at his former company and it worked extremely well. I blogged briefly
about the idea here: http://tinyurl.com/5e4v88.

Tom




On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 2:32 PM, Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>wrote:

> HI all,
>
>
>
> I'm in a typical situation..my writing staff has been reduced by half, the
> project load has grown and the deadlines are shrinking. (Sound familiar?)
> My
> department head has decided that the problems with us falling behind is
> because our information gathering is inefficient. (He has never worked as a
> technical writer and views technical publications as a necessary evil
> rather
> than a valued component of the company's products.) The department head is
> pushing for us to incorporate video taping into the information gathering
> process. His idea is to have the engineers videotape the setup/alignment
> process so we won't have to bother them with questions. Those same
> engineers
> would discuss the various components making up the systems. (These systems
> use pneumatics, hydraulics, and electronics to align and bond silicon
> wafers
> and are extremely precise.) We would take the tapes and write the books.
> Reviews would be accomplished by training as they train the field service
> staff. (How they would know what is correct or what is and error was not
> part of his proposal.)
>
>
>
> Prior to my arrival at this company, the "lone technical writer" worked
> part-time and did litter more than stuff material written by the engineers
> into a Word template and shoved it out the door. There was no review of the
> material. The result was garbage. I have worked hard to move the
> publications beyond those dark days to a professional level and do not want
> to go backwards. (I should add that our company is going through a change
> in
> management and board of directors. It is a subsidiary of a German
> corporation. We have a new CFO who is in cost cutting mode and is only
> looking at bottom line. My Department Head is a long-time employee, but in
> a
> new position. He wants to look good.)
>
>
>
> Has anyone had experience incorporating video in the information gathering
> process for technical publications? How did it work for you (or did it
> work)? Did it vastly improve efficiency, or was the development time about
> the same? If you used video, what did you have to do to ensure the
> information you got was worthwhile?
>
>
>
> Any and all help/information on this subject will be gladly accepted.
>
>
>
> That bottle of Rare Vos is looking pretty good right about now.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Al Geist
>
> Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
>
> Office/Msg: 802-872-9190
>
> Cell: 802-578-3964
>
> Website: www.geistassociates.com
>
> See Also:
>
> Fine Art Photography
>
> Website: www.geistimages.com
>
>
>
> "...I walked to work, quit my job, and kept walking. Better to be a pilgrim
> without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold each
> day." (Sy Safransky)
>
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
> publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
> authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
> http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
>
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as tomjohnson1492 -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/tomjohnson1492%40gmail.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
>


--
---------------------
cell: 801-822-2241
blog: www.idratherbewriting.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/tomjohnson
news: www.writerriver.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.


Follow-Ups:

Previous by Author: Re: Poll: Is technical writing a sellout or fallback career?
Next by Author: levels of detail -- are we beyond this?
Previous by Thread: RE: Information gathering.....
Next by Thread: RE: Information gathering.....


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads