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> does anyone out there have to write functional specs as part of their
job?
All the time. Its a good thing to do. Gets you in touch with the details.
> i have never done it myself, but people at my company may think its my
job
> soon... so i thought i'd poll people to find out what other tech writers
> out there are doing wrt specs.
While many places have the engineers write the specs, personally I think
writers should. It forces you to get "down and dirty" with the technology
you are documenting. Moreover, you can become an intermediary between
competing ideas and concepts. Engineers often forget that their designs
must integrate with a whole. Having a writer develop the specs helps
reduce incongruous ideas and designs in the spec.
> usually, engineering groups write all the design specs. then i take info
> from the specs to do my work. are there advantages/disadvantages to
taking
> on this type of work?
The largest disadvantage is that you rely on some other person's writing
for your work. Most engineers are horrible writers producing incomplete
specs. Mostly, what they do is write in a vacuum. They don't document
their designs in context. That is, they spec out designs without
explaining the rationale and reasons behind their decisions.
Complex systems (like any good document) are not just collections of
chunks. They are a web of relationships. To understand those
relationships, you must understand the components and how they relate.
Writing specs is an excellent way to get to know all the components and
their relationships.
If you want to write good user docs, you must have mental command of the
technology involved. Writing the specs is an excellent way to learn
exactly how your company's products (whatever they may be) are built.
All of this boils down to one salient concept: either you command the
information or you rely on others to hand you the information. In my
experience, if you rely on other people to give you all the information
you need in the exact format and sequence you need it: you will be
routinely disappointed and fail.
Write the specs and have fun.
Andrew Plato
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