Re: On the value of technical communication (long)

["Bill Swallow" <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>]

> Will they actually change their views, and decide to integrate technical
> writing into the effort, or will they seek out someone to blame for the
> catastrophe? Will they modify their risk strategy and look to design a
> properly written set of documents, or will they want some kind of patch
> thrown together in two weeks at minimum cost?

I've seen trends to include TWs into the effort but resistance to
abandon the tossed-together patch. It's a case of wanting both to
improve and to quickly appease customers. Many companies just can't
see the value in ditching the patch mentality to truly give
improvement its all.

> If they do embark on a revised but even bigger replacement project (with
> integrated documentation teams) for which the design is conceptually
> flawed, will they blame the project's failure on the technical writer
> who discovers and points out the flaw?

I doubt it's that granular, but if flaws are pointed out in the end
rather than up front there will certainly be heated discussion no
matter who brings it up. It comes down to the 1:10:100 rule, where it
costs 1 unit to do it right, 10 units to fix it mid-stream, and 100
units to fix it post ship. No one likes to be faced with a 10 or 100
weight issue, but again, many companies fail to plan properly to
strengthen the 1 weight effort.

> Will any of these folks ever see any need for further technical writing
> at all? What am I doing staying in this business?

Good question! Technical writing isn't their main concern. Quality
product and efficient effort is or should be. Technical writing goes
lock step with QA, Development, HCI, and other efforts, and it's up to
everyone in those areas to ensure they are involved at the beginning
and through the life of the project. Of course it takes good
leadership to ensure that all parties are given equal weight and
involvement in the effort as well.

-- 
Bill Swallow
http://techcommdood.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/techcommdood

Avid homebrewer and proud beer snob.
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