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Subject:Re: User Documentation in Agile Development Teams From:Keith Hood <bus -dot- write -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"Weissman, Jessica R" <WeissmanJR -at- state -dot- gov> Date:Fri, 24 Mar 2017 13:59:40 -0500
A huge number of tech types don't pay attention to user concerns under any
circumstances. They often don't think about user documentation at all.
A lot of techies "know" the software is more intuitive because for them it
is. They literally never consider that isn't true for someone who wasn't in
on it from day one. This is why usability engineering is so important in
software development. But usability engineering has almost disappeared as a
career field because it slows things down, while cutting the number of
man-hours needed to get product out the door has become the single most
important thing in the software development world.
For 30 years I've been hearing software people talk about how the next
generation of UIs are going to be so intuitive that user documents aren't
needed. I'm still waiting to see the first model of such a UI.
On Fri, Mar 24, 2017 at 9:53 AM, Weissman, Jessica R <WeissmanJR -at- state -dot- gov>
wrote:
> Why would they think that Agile development methods would change user
> needs?
>
> As you say, back end docs can be leaner, but there's nothing about Agile
> that makes software more intuitive to users. Well, fewer systems are
> developed from beginning to end without user involvement, so wildly
> unintuitive designs don't get locked in as early.
>
> Developers are not qualified to say what is intuitive, and tech writers
> who have become familiar with a product or system are not as qualified as
> they were at the start of their involvement with the project.
>
> Jessica Weissman
> Senior Technical Writer
> ValidaTek, Inc.
> U.S. Department of State | Bureau of Consular Affairs
> (M) (301) 775-1269 | weissmanjr -at- state -dot- gov
>
> Providing innovative solutions through collaboration, accountability and
> excellence
> Personal
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