Agile tech writing

["Blount, Patricia A" <Patricia -dot- Blount -at- ca -dot- com>]

Good morning, all,

I learned last week in strategy conference that my company plans to
adopt an agile development process. For us, that means switching from an
annual software release cycle to a monthly one. I've devoted a good deal
of time since then to researching agile methods, trying to learn how
tech writing fits into such a process.  (Tom Johnson, Sarah Maddox and
Anne Gentle all have incredibly detailed blog entries on this topic. I
began my research there.)

So far, I know we'll be focusing on just a few tasks per sprint. So it's
probably less writing than we're used to. But it has to fit into a much
smaller schedule, so I'm sure there's still a mad scramble to get it all
done. 

I've got a few concerns... chief among them: Does tech writing fall off
the radar in such environments? Rumor hear has it that tech writing will
lag a sprint behind development. I think that's a bad idea because we
typically do more than 'write'. We review GUI screens for grammar and
sense, we suggest design improvements when instructions feel clunky, we
can test as we write, so if we lag a sprint behind, those problems won't
be fixed immediately (and isn't that the goal of agile?) 

Does anybody have agile tech writing experience? Could you share a
little of what the typical sprint feels like? 

Thanks,
Patty B. 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Use Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word, or HTML and 
produce desktop, Web, or print deliverables. Just write (or import) 
and Doc-To-Help does the rest. Free trial: http://www.doctohelp.com

Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at:
http://www.ModernAnalyst.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. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat