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Subject:Re: How Many Projects Can One Person Handle From:Jane Bergen <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 23 Jan 1997 14:37:47 +0000
On 23 Jan 97 at 10:21, Barbara Ridley wrote:
> I'm wondering how many projects of varying sizes do some of you
> feel one person can work on and do an adequate job, not
> necessarily prize-winning. Let's assume that you will work 40
> - 50 hours a week.
>
> A sampling of the types of jobs I'm referring to might be a
> 4-page newsletter to be edited and formatted; documentation of
> a complex system which might produce 75 pages or more; and one
> that will produce about 100 pages or so. Keep in mind that you
> will do the whole nine yards on the documentation projects,
> starting from scratch -- create the plan, content
> specifications, implementation, screen captures and
> modifications, formatting, usability testing, and final
> production.
Barb, a lot depends on the complexity (degree of technical knowledge
required by both you and the reader). I am currently juggling 12
(yikes...I just counted them!) software manuals (user guides,
administrator guides) by myself. The engineers help a little on one
of them (a 500 page script language reference guide) but I'm the only
writer.
One word of caution, though... you're asking for disaster if you do
the usability testing and final QA on your on work...no matter how
much time you have on your hands. I do some preliminary editing
myself before running things through our QA department, then I edit
my revisions before passing them back to QA. Inevitably I miss
something. And if you write the manual, that usually means you've
used the application. In that case, you SHOULD NOT be the sole
usability tester. You know too much and assume too much.
This could be an interesting discussion. I hope others respond.
Jane Bergen
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"my opinions are my own..."
Jane Bergen, Technical Writer
janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
AnswerSoft, Inc.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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