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I have to agree with Tony on this one. If all we needed was to observe HOW a
task is done, and then write that down, I'm not so sure the need for good
tech tech writers would exist.
What distinguishes a good manual (or any piece of info) is that it explains
WHY you have to do things a certain way to achieve a goal. For example, if I
was documenting a word processing program by simply saying HOW, then my
manual might look something like this:
1. Click the "New" icon.
2. Type words.
3. Format as needed.
4. Click the "Save" icon.
If I don't tell the user WHY they should use styles instead of simply
formatting individual words, or WHY they may want to create templates, then
they won't learn a good deal of the program's functionality. It is this WHY
that can be difficult to extricate from developers.
In my last position, the developers were in Germany (and were not native
English speakers - Hi Amy if you're reading this ;-). Some of them provided
the WHY, some only the HOW when sending us specs for new features that
needed user documentation. Explaining to the developers why we needed the
WHY required quite a bit of politic playing, as it mostly was done through
email and occasionally required the help of the developer's boss to get the
message through. Granted, it may have been more difficult due to the
language and physical distance barrier, but I think it does show that being
able to play politics will always be necessary when one person needs
information from another.
I don't think however, that it is always due to "turf paranoia." I believe
many times developers simply don't understand why we may need to know
something. They don't necessarily think like us, it's not their job. In many
cases, once it is explained why we need the information, the developers can
be very forthcoming. But that explaining is a type of politicking; you must
be knowledgeable of their circumstances and firm in your need to get the
info.
Not necessarily a bad thing IMHO.
Robin Whitmore
Cygent, Inc.
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