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Subject:Re: Software documentation--when to begin? From:Ad absurdum per aspera <JTCHEW -at- LBL -dot- GOV> Date:Tue, 26 Jul 1994 20:55:31 GMT
When I did that sort of thing, I found that diving right in
at the product definition stage was more fun than, say,
syncing up with it at alpha test (and it seemed to yield
better quality and more productivity, though we approached
it essentially as a high-tech artistic endeavor and didn't
have any formal metrics).
Never found myself in the stereotypical predicament of being
given something I hadn't seen before at the last minute, and
would have been quite openly annoyed if this had happened
(as would my boss). Actually had the joy of writing a draft
of the user documentation very early on and palming it off as
the bulk of an internal product spec, though this might work
best at a small company that doesn't yet have many assistant
executive vice presidents of perpetuating the status quo -- we
were 10 years old and had 600 employees and I barely got away
with it. Got to kibitz on user interfaces. Highly recommended
and worth fighting for.
Joe
"Just another personal opinion from the People's Republic of Berkeley"
Disclaimer: Even if my employer had a position on the subject,
I probably wouldn't be the one stating it on their behalf.
