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Sandy Baker asked: "Does someone have advice about gathering and writing
technical documentation for software?"
In my "fast-paced environment" experiences, I started with what the software
designed to do, then determined the best order for doing it. I used that
information to create a preliminary table of contents (If you call it an
outline, some people will think it's a waste of time.) and wrote from there.
As far as getting information from developers:
Schedule time with them, don't keep hitting them with frequent little
interruptions.
If you have to talk to more than one developer, try to meet with them one at
a time. If you get two or more together, the tangents come fast and furious
and before you know it, hours have passed and you're no closer to getting
the info you need.
Come prepared with specific questions. Show that you've made an honest
effort to figure things out on your own first.
Get permission from the developers' supervisor to make sure they have time
to talk.
Be prepared to mediate. If you go to more than one person, you're likely to
get conflicting answers.
When it comes to bugs in the software (and you will find them), keep a list
and turn it in regularly. Don't report every single bug right when it
happens. Only include definite bugs on the list. If you question whether
something is a bug, put it on a separate list.
Good luck.
Philip
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