Re: Reality check

[Tkritr -at- aol -dot- com]

Hi Sharon ---

If this were only a document set, I'd agree with Andrew and encourage you to 
take the business.  However, having designed, developed, and produced a CBT 
(albeit larger than the one you described), I'm thinking that it would be 
very difficult to complete a useful CBT in 4 weeks.  Please note that I used 
the word "useful" in my previous sentence.  :)   This post focuses on the CBT 
portion of your Reality Check.

Depending on what the client expects from the CBT, it could simply be a 
matter of presenting information you're creating for the user guide anyway, 
or it could turn into a complex presentation that requires your team to put 
more time and expertise into it than they may be able to provide. 

For example:  Does the client want to include any kind of testing? If so, do 
they want test questions throughout the CBT or one test at the end?   Does 
the testing need to be scored and recorded?   Any or all of these additions, 
not to mention many others, can add many unexpected hours to the CBT 
development.   

As I remember, the industry standard for CBT creation is:
75 development hours = 1 hour of basic CBT (that is, no audio, no video, no 
animation).  That's almost two weeks to create the CBT if it is only an hour; 
however, I believe that number assumes that the content already exists, and 
that you have an experienced CBT team of about 10 people working on it.  I 
don't have the resource for that calculation right offhand, but I'll try to 
find it if someone wants to debate it with me.  :)

If you can do it, developing the documentation while simultaneously designing 
and creating a CBT prototype might be feasible (if hectic).  Prototypes give 
the client something to review and critique, while still being flexible 
enough to change to fit the client's vision. A prototype will also give you 
and your team an idea of how long it will take to complete the CBT from that 
point.

Just my perspective from having been there, done that.  Good luck!

Kirsten Petersen
technical writing consultant


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