TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: No specifications From:Amy_Smith -at- motorcity2 -dot- lotus -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 5 May 2000 11:53:42 -0400
Disclaimer: I happen to be a spec writer. Our doc group has a team dedicated to
writing functional specs.
How about taking on the task yourself? Some techwr-lers have mentioned doing
this in an informal manner - keeping notes, minutes, and so on. Why not make it
official and own the task? This accomplishes several things:
o you get in early on the development process.
o you develop relationships with the programmers
o benefits the developers. Down the road, when the guy who wrote the foobar
function leaves the company and is replaced, the new Ms. Foobar will be
infinitely grateful to you. Documentation isn't only for end users...
o by the time you actually get to write the doc, your job will be half done.
My $0.02, FWIW.
*******************************************************************************
Amy Smith, Notes User Assistance Group
Lotus Development Corp.
617/693-9733
amy_smith -at- lotus -dot- com
"Just because you can add a technology to your (Web) page doesn't mean that you
should." - Vincent Flanders, coauthor of "Web Pages That Suck."
