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Subject:Should I run or is this project doable?... From:Johanna <chazjo -at- magma -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 13 Mar 2001 22:52:52 -0500
Thanks to everyone who responded re: how to formulate
a doc plan when there are no specs. Here is why I
asked and it the story continues to go downhill:
The client is a brand new 3-person start up
initiative: developer, marketing type and financial
officer (with the bucks). They have an idea to develop
CRM software for their industry. They tell me that
they will go beta at the end of March and that they
want to release their final version, with
documentation (a system overview and 2 user guides),
end of April. Today is March 13; these people have no
idea of what it takes to produce documentation... what
do you think was my first clue?
It gets better. Having looked at the "test" system, I
have determined that:
1) 50% of the UIs are currently 'unavailable'. The
developer is adding them as he goes along. (This is
contrary to their initial estimation that the test
system was 80% complete.)
2) The UIs are, well... not UIs. The software is
essentially a database running in the background using
active server pages and a web browser. The UIs are
either used to create records in the database or to
list and view existing records. The front end is very
poor and I have produced better myself using FileMaker
or Access. I bring all this up because, given that
there are no specs, I am unable to use the UI to
figure out what exactly the damn software is supposed
to do. (And I'm an experienced writer *and* techie.)
3) As I mentioned before, there is nothing written
down spec wise and additionally, the developer is
given to tweaking the "interfaces" here and there. You
know what I mean, adding a field here, deleting a
field there, etc, etc, etc.
4) The timeframe is... well, just plain stupid as
anyone can figure out.
What do they want from me? Well, I'm to scope the
project and tell them how much it will cost to develop
the documents with final output in pdf format. (No
paper or online, just pdf files to include on the
installation CD.) They want task-oriented user guides
developed for ma and pa types running small
businesses, all written for the lowest common
denominator.
What will I do?
Well, much here is ridiculous but I could use some
work right now. I am considering this: going to the
client, telling him the situation (more
diplomatically) and that with what little time we have
to work with, he needs to come up with a very specific
lists of the tasks he wants me to document. I am
figuring that if he tells me what he wants the users
to be able to do, I will be able to document the
corresponding procedures. I am thinking that a bare
bones "work in progress" would be possible as they are
planning to release version 2 of their software within
a couple of months of their initial release.
How does this solution seem? I don't want to totally
blow them off (although I'm meeting with someone else
this week), but I want to keep it reality-based. There
is no way that they are going to have 3 documents
ready in 6 weeks, even if they aren't going to print.
An overview doc is possible and I think a barebones
user guide outlining the major and most commonly used
tasks is also possible --- if they tell me exactly
what those tasks will be.
Am I on the right track here... or am I just deluded
and money hungry at the moment?
IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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