Re: Interesting Article... fewest jobs lost in Tech Writing

["M Page" <mpage -at- csl -dot- co -dot- uk>]

I agree, except that much of what you say about getting involved depends on
institutional culture.

> not because we're specialists.  Most devteams are made up of specialists:
> they don't consider cutting the UI designer or the back-end developer out
of
> the process just because they're specialists

UI designer? I've yet to work somewhere where there is one. As my IT friends
will confirm, UI design is often scene as another luxury. "After all, what
matters is what's under the bonnet."





"Grant, Christopher" <CGrant -at- glhec -dot- org> wrote in message
news:153244 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 
>
> Hi M,
>
> > Ah, but docs are part of the product as much as the GUI is.
>
> Not really.  With many applications, such as Web-based apps, the GUI _is_
> the product.  No GUI, no product.  Unless you want to go back to the mid
> 90s, GUIs _are_ products.  Can you imagine using Word or Frame without a
> GUI?
>
> On the other hand, all of these products are functional and usable without
> docs.  Even as a technical writer myself, I use things like Frame,
> Photoshop, Dreamweaver and RoboHelp without manuals.  Is the online help
> useful?  Yes.  But I would use the product anyway if it wasn't there.
> Certainly I will be able to do MORE with the product if I have
> documentation, but the lack of documentation doesn't preclude me from
using
> it.
>
> No GUI often means no product.  No docs means poorly documented product.
> IMHO docs are most certainly NOT as integral to the product as the GUI.
>
> > We only stand out as targets because, as specialists, we appear to be
> > divisible from the rest of the team creating the wealth {and because
> everybody
> > else thinks they could do our job :) }
>
> We stand out as targets because we've been determined to be non-essential,
> not because we're specialists.  Most devteams are made up of specialists:
> they don't consider cutting the UI designer or the back-end developer out
of
> the process just because they're specilists.  The devteam can deliver a
> "product" without documentation, especially if it's not a commercially
> available product.
>
> In my experience, we also stand out as targets because many times,
technical
> writers are not as involved in the development process as they should be.
> As a result, we become a time and resource liability since we need people
to
> explain stuff to us - stuff that's probably already been discussed in
> development meetings or otherwise.  It's important for technical writers
to
> unobtrusively insert themselves into the development process, and to own
the
> product they're documenting: by participating, playing, digging, etc.
>
> If we want to be regarded as important as the rest of the development
team,
> then we need to be performing and producing at a level commensurate with
the
> rest of the team.  A good technical writer, fully knowledgable about their
> product, can be useful in many more ways than simply producing docs (UI
> design, QA, testing, etc.)  Do something that actually _proves_ that
nobody
> else can do our job.
>
> -Chris Grant
>
>
>




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