TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Tony,
As Sharon said, the scope of the project and the scope of the doc
project are usually two entirely (though related) things. Having said
that, here's how I've seen the 'process' work at different places:
Project Definition:
First comes the 'idea'
Then is it feasible? Will it make money?
Can we do it?
This will involve market research (will people buy it? At what price?
etc.) and many ideas die at that point.
If it gets past that then you determine what features are wanted/you can
afford to put it.
It's here that you SET (not determine) the boundaries. You specify what
will be in the product, what it will do etc. The specification sets the
project boundaries. They may change quite a bit early on (iterative
process, customer feedback etc) but will, eventually be firm(ish!).
This stage may be a simple paper exercise, involve prototyping etc.
TWers may or may not be involved.
It's after this that the scope of the doc project is set and that's
determined by the user/task analysis.
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help 2005 now has RoboHelp Converter and HTML Source: Author
content and configure Help in MS Word or any HTML editor. No
proprietary editor! *August release. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot-