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.
Subject:Re: How to . . From:JohnBrin <johnbrin -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 26 May 1994 00:56:04 -0400
Probably the best way to keep from being surprised by additional,
complex features is for the witers to be accepted as members of the
product development team. This requires political skills, social
skills, and psychological skills, professional behavior, and luck.
A writer to engineer ratio of 30:2 (15:1) is too high to result in
quality documentation. We have surveyed enterprises that produce
documentation ranging from superior to ordinary. We find that the
superior enterprises have ratios like 2:1 and in a few cases 1:1.
Ordinary enterprises tend to have ratios in a range from 7:1 to 4:1.
Ratios higher than 10:1 tend to produce mediocre to simply awful
documentation.