RE: End user documentation

["Hemstreet, Deborah" <DHemstreet -at- kaydon -dot- com>]

 The Software Development Cycle (SDLC) (thanks to Paul for explaining
yet another acronym to me...)...

Should begin at the very beginning of a product development, probably
after approval of concept.  Tasks may be small at the beginning, but
keeping the Technical Writer (TW) invovled throughout helps to keep the
project on track. 

I remember one project I was on. The plan? Translation into 21 languages
- with no infrastructure. Fortunately, they had me involved at the
beginning and asked me to draw up a documentation plan to go with the
product development plan. I made that the 21 languages were included as
part of the project, and said that part of my documentation plan
included translation of the GUI, since the terminology needed to be
controlled, and done. Since this was a medical device, they needed all
of this done and approved, along with a draft user guide in all
languages for the beta release. Based on my experience with this
company, I was able to make sure they remembered, with these kinds of
deadlines, and taking into consideration the time needed for
translation, internal approvals, legal approvals, and in-country review
of translations, the Instructions for Use (IFU) would need to be
completed at least 4 months before product release. I was informed last
week the entire project has been cancelled due to budgetary contraints.
I don't know if my documentation plan and proposed schedule had anything
to do with it, but I'm sure it contributed.

The point, when SW development leaves out the technical
writer/communicator, they do tend to forget that there are small issues
like, naming features, translations, usability, and that these all
impact the printed or online documentation.

Each industry has different standards. The medical device industry is
especially strict (above scenario). Not all documentation will need the
same approvals, but approvals are needed. Not all documentation will be
translated, but this is the current trend. Most companies would like to
release their documentation WITH the product. The minute you have
translations, completion of the primary documentation becomes time
critical. And when the translations are required for product release,
this means that all groups must work together closely to reduce rework,
and assure there is no miscommunication along the way.

In the real world, this rarely happens. But I do believe this is the
goal.

Be invovled from the beginning.

Deborah

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+dhemstreet=kaydon -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+dhemstreet=kaydon -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Raj Machhan
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 7:15 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: End user documentation

Hi,

In all probability, it is highly debatable and may vary from one product
to
the other, but ideally at what stage of the SDLC should we start
creating
end user documents? I am presently mapping the stages of SDLC with the
documentation process. Your views would help me greatly to arrive at a
definite conclusion.

Thanks

Raj
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