Training Document Specifications Template

["Ashaki K. Hamlett" <ashaki -at- altair -dot- com>]

Currently, the Training team has been writing all the training materials
and Documentation (my department) has been responsible for formatting.
Since a technical writer has more value than formatting(IMO),
Documentation will actually be writing the training materials. The
concepts for training will still come from the Training department. It
has been proposed that Training will complete a document spec along with
an .avi file and pass it along to Documentation (primarily me). The
expectation is that I will be able to write training materials (lecture
and step-by-step instructions) based on the spec and .avi file (that
will capture the software being used). My initial concern (as well as
the other writers) was will the specs be thorough enough for us to be
able to create training materials. After posing this concern, the
Training manager suggested that I come up with a spec template that
Training can use. We are going to pilot this template in a few weeks.
Basically, this template would guide and assist the training specialist
with creating the actual spec. I need to pose questions in the template
that will prompt the training specialist to give me a brain dump that
will assist me in creating the training materials. Here are some of the
questions I was thinking of asking, but feel free to add to the list:

- What is the functionality that the user is being trained on? Is this
functionality new or being updated?
- What is the audience's level of familiarity with the software?
(novice, intermediate, advanced)
- What should the user learn after completing the exercise?
- Is there various methods for achieving the end-result? If so, which is
the preferred method and why?
- Provide a list of best practices and tips and tricks (for example,
shortcut keys).
- Why would the user want to learn this functionality? How can this
exercise help them in their day-to-day job?

Thanks in advance,

Ashaki


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