Re: Make it Pretty for the SMEs You Want to Interview

[Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Cindy K. Kight wrote

> Presenting information in an attractive format is a valuable skill.  It
> makes your documents more readable and, therefore, more usable and
> effective.  When someone asks you to make a document 'pretty' they are
> asking for your expertise - they just don't know what to call it.

> It would be nice to be granted respect and professional recognition from

> the beginning, but sometimes you have to work at it.

You always have to work for it. If people do not know you or your
capabilities, they naturally assume the worst. Its human nature.  Once you
have proven yourself capable, people can respect you because they have
tangible proof that you can do what you say you can. 

The notion that respect should flow from day one is rather arrogant. There
are plenty of people in the world with impressive resumes and a quick
answer to questions who are totally incompetent when it comes to getting
real work done. These people are why it is impossible to take people at
their word. People lie and misrepresent their skills as a matter of
practice. 

Furthermore, I would argue that "pretty-ing" is not the most important
skill for a writer to posses. While organizing information and making it
easier to read is important, it is not the differentiation point for
satisfactory documentation vs exceptional documentation. Exceptional
documents go way beyond just being well organized. They are enjoyable to
read, deliver useful information, and focus on tangible "themes". This is
ultimately a content issue. Just organizing chunks does not make a
document good. I've read plenty of well organized chunks of crap. Its only
when the chunks flow together to deliver complete concept(s) that a
satisfactory "well-organized" document becomes exceptional. 

In my experience, SMEs just want somebody to make their products and
designs look great. The greatest service you can do for a reader is to
educate them on why they are using whatever it is the SME built.
Unfortunately, most writers focus on "instructing" rather than
"educating".  The result is "prettied up" sets of instructions that lack
context and narrative but pass the "QA test".    

Actually, I am working on an article right now for the TECHW-L site that
will discuss this concept in greater detail. I probably won't have it done
for another week or so.

Andrew Plato 

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