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I work in a publications department writing hardware theory and
maintenance manuals for the field engineers maintaining our
supercomputers. We are presently looking for ways of measuring the
quality of the documents we produce. The measurement tools we have
implemented include a standard review process (which includes reviews
from technical experts, editors, and users), reader comment forms
supplied with each printed manual, and usability testing (for pertinent
documentation). Although these measurement methods work well, they do
not provide us with any metrics for measuring the quality of our
documents.
Does anyone have experience/suggestions for evaluating manuals using
metrics, or suggestions on developing metrics for measuring the quality
of manuals? Any information would be helpful. Thanks!
