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Subject:RE: Documenting desktop to Web application? From:John Posada <JPosada -at- book -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 25 Sep 2003 13:28:42 -0400
Leanne Sanderson reports: <<I've been asked to create user documentation for
a client's existing custom application... with the understanding that they
will be moving from this stand-alone desktop application to a web
application in the next 18 months.>>
Ok, there's nothing wrong with this. In fact, I was hired at BN precisely
for this purpose. The project that I started on was designated a
stabilization effort. The way the application worked was error-prone since
it had outgrown it's original scope. So, they decided to rebuild it to
accommodate current and future growth.
However, before they could do this, they needed to know what they had.
That's where I came in. I created a design document of about 700 pages.
This is called an "As Built" document. It's a real document type of real
value.
Described it exactly the way it was, warts and all. Then, armed with this,
they determined what needed to be changed, what needed to be scraped, and
what could be salvaged.
Then, as the system was altered, I made changes to my documentation to keep
up with what they were doing. When they were finished, so was I.
The system under discussion will transition from DT to web...so what.
Document what is, then as it changes, document those changes.
John Posada
Special Projects
Senior Technical Writer
Barnes&Noble.com
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