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:When Worlds Collide: McConnell meets Hackos From:dan roberts <droberts63 -at- earthlink -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Thu, 22 Jun 2000 13:38:15 -0400 (EDT)
Hi folks,
I'm wondering if anyone has written doc under the SW development process outlined by Steve McConnell in The Software Project Survival Guide, and if so, how that process either coincided or conflicted with the documentation process outlined by Joann Hackos, in Managing Your Documentation Project.
McConnell advises that, although doc development extends through the development life-cycle, the bulk of user doc can be completed in the early stages of the SW development cycle, pretty much after the SW prototype is completed. The user doc serves not only as end-user doc but also as a detailed functional spec used during the SW architecture, development, and QA phases.
Hackos contends that the initial phases of doc development should be devoted to analysis and planning, including a detailed doc plan--but little in the way of writing information that the end-user will ultimately see.
IMHO, the two processes can dovetail, but only by modifying McConnell's process from requiring the bulk of the user doc be completed before about the same time architecture begins to requiring that the bulk of document *planning* be completed by the time architecture begins. I don't think that Hackos' process can be compressed much to coincide more with McConnell's.
I'm curious to hear comments.
(yes, Andrew, I know, "shut up and write" <g>)
