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Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years
Subject:Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years From:"Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 25 Oct 2003 18:10:04 -0700
Actually, it does in the context of a DoD contract. As George has
previously explained, the deliverables of such contracts are spelled
out very early on, and the contractor is not getting graded on the
quality of documentation, only on whether it contains all the required
elements. Expending additional resources to make the documents
"better" will not ever lead to additional sales due to enhanced user
satisfaction, so none of the usual arguements that support improved
documentation quality apply. Producing the "best" documentation
possible is not the goal, all that is needed is documentation that is
"good enough" to satisfy the CDRL (contract data requirements list),
and documentation that consumes additional company resources to
go beyond those requirements eats directly into the profits on a
fixed-price contract. That would most likely be what constituted
"too good" in the eyes of that manager, documentation that was
perceived as being "gold-plated," with the gold coming from the
company's profits.
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