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.
RE: What should an introductory seminar on tech writing cover?
Subject:RE: What should an introductory seminar on tech writing cover? From:"neha ." <snehasn -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Thu, 15 Jun 2000 14:05:54 GMT
Hi All,
One important topic that is hard to find in tech writing courses and
seminars is how to interview engineers. How do you effectively extract
information? What are the right questions? What other methods can you use to
gather information (e.g., reviewing requirement and design documents; or
sitting with the software yourself, if it's ready)?
Maybe this doesn't belong in an introductory seminar, but interviewing
engineers and info gathering in general is definitely an important part of
technical writing. And it tends to be under-emphasized.
As a matter of discussion, here are a few essential questions a tech writer
might ask developers or engineers:
--What's the purpose of the software? What's the business process it
supports? (note: engineers may or may not clearly know how program ties into
the business)
--Who's going to use it? What are we assuming the user already knows about
computers? About the business?
--What platform/s does the app run on?
--What was the program written in - Visual C, PowerBuilder, Pl1, etc.?
--Do we have an inventory of all windows/dialogs, and their GUI objects
already compiled? (If not, you as the tech writer compile one).
--What error messages might a user receive? How do they resolve these? How
is the resolution communicated to users?
Another helpful item in tech writing training is how to EFFICIENTLY gather
details such as field definitions and descriptions of all GUI objects. This
can become a huge daunting task for large systems (e.g., a system with over
2,500 objects that need to be detailed). Although requirements and design
documents are usually - though not always -available, they are often too
sketchy.
Information gathering is an important topic that should be a large part of
tech writing trainig, but it is often under-emphasized or missing
altogether.
What do you think?
-Neha Sharad
(freelance tech writer in the Wash DC area)
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
