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Subject:RE: New TECHWR-L Poll Question From:"Sean O'Donoghue-Hayes (EAA)" <Sean.O'Donoghue-Hayes -at- ericsson -dot- com -dot- au> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 14 May 2002 09:47:52 +1000
Hmmmm....well not in a long, long time......but it did when first starting
out.....mind you that was a tiny project, and the two staff on it were
brilliant programmers working hacker hours, and considered by management to
valuable to be disturbed by such nefarious types as technical
writers....strangely the two programmers themselves never minded, and I
think were always curious how the companies most extensive helpfile for an
application they were still developing was coming along....I think they
gained from my input, as it allowed them - from my structure - to see beyond
their own specifications and program designs to a living application.
As with many such projects at that time, if I had waited to document the
application when they had finished it completely, rather than documenting it
and telling them how it worked and what "suitable" changes to make - I would
still be waiting (or have been let go as I didn't meet deadlines).
So I guess I learnt from that experience just to be little bit more
pragmatic about "chasing" developers/programmers, and instead be more
conversational (the last thing a harried programmer wants to see is someone
coming towards them with a pen, and a folder, and a request of - "this will
only take five minutes..." as you begin to leaf through a pile of
questions...) and allow the questions to flow back and forth, with the
programmer taking a more active part. Try and be a bit of an outlet from the
"humdrum" confrontation with code.
Oh my answer was "Yes, but rarely". (hmmmmm I agree with Maggie Secura's
comment on "rarely" as well)
regards and thanks,
Sean O'Donoghue-Hayes
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