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RE: Choosing and managing customer-facing terminology
Subject:RE: Choosing and managing customer-facing terminology From:"Cardimon, Craig" <ccardimon -at- M-S-G -dot- com> To:'punit shrivastava' <punitshrivastava -at- gmail -dot- com>, "'jcantel -at- us -dot- ibm -dot- com'" <jcantel -at- us -dot- ibm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:53:06 +0000
What if there is no doc team? I'm one guy doing this. I AM the doc team.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of punit shrivastava
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 2:46 PM
To: jcantel -at- us -dot- ibm -dot- com
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Choosing and managing customer-facing terminology
Very good question Julian. I am sure many this discussion would benefit
many.
To come to the answer, we follow defined terminology in our org. For example
there are highly technical terms and some abbreviations that SMEs generally
use in their discussions and development too. But, when such terms are to be
produced in documentation our standards dictate what would be used for
clients.
The agreement on terms to prepare the standard terms have been prepared in
agreement with doc team management and other teams.
thanks
Punit
On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 11:48 PM, <mattgras -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote:
> Actually, I think this topic may have a big "affect" rather than an
> "impact" (KABOOM!!!!) on user perception.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Julian Cantella" <jcantel -at- us -dot- ibm -dot- com>
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 10:55:43 AM
> Subject: Choosing and managing customer-facing terminology
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm curious about how writers choose terminology that will be exposed to
> customers. In particular, I'm thinking about text that is highly visible
> and informs the users' view of the product, like embedded assistance in
> software documentation.
>
> Do you use whatever terminology your subject matter experts provide?
> Consult domain publications and other products in the field?
>
> When you decide what terminology you'd like to use, how do you enforce it
> and ensure that everyone (other writers for the same product, developers,
> maybe even marketing) is on the same page? Do you record your decision in
> a common database?
>
> And finally, what happens when you and your subject matter experts
> disagree? Do you try to put alternatives in front of users?
>
> This topic is pretty broad, but it's an important one that has a big
> impact on users' perception of product and documentation quality.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Julian Cantella
> Information Developer
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--
Punit S.
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