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Re: Documents Before Products/Getting Programmers to Help
Subject:Re: Documents Before Products/Getting Programmers to Help From:Paula Puffer <techwrtr -at- CEI -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 13 Mar 1997 16:01:51 -0600
We had something similar to this happen at ISSC last summer when I was
writing online help for the Arkansas Child Support Tracking System. The
Software and System were being developed simultaneously and there were
something like 15 different system areas to document. We wrote from the
Design Specification Documents (DSDs) for the most part.
Questions/problems were written down and taken to the manager we were
working under. If she couldn't figure it out, she would take the questions
to the programmer/developers. At times, the writers went to the developers
and asked questions. I always tried to make sure I had done as much research
as possible before I went to the programmers. Generally I didn't have to beg
or bribe the programmers for information.
there's my nickel's worth of experience
Paula
>On Thu, 13 Mar 1997, Sharon Rosenthal wrote:
>
>> Last summer, I waited for software to come my way to no avail. Finally, I
>> just had to write something. When I told my husband that I had to write
>> the training guide before the end of the month, he asked how I would do it.
>> I replied, "I'm going to make it up." And I did.
>>
>> I used technical specifications (that I didn't quite understand) and some
>> help from development folks who thought that the software would eventually
>> work that way. In the end, I was close, but there was lots that was wrong.
>> Fortunately, I convinced engineering to give me software before the final
>> review.
>
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