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Re: Culture, or What it means to be a Technical Writer
Subject:Re: Culture, or What it means to be a Technical Writer From:Max Wyss <prodok -at- PRODOK -dot- CH> Date:Sun, 10 May 1998 12:38:25 +0200
Chris,
This looks like an ideal world, where tech writers have the position they
deserve.
Unfortunately, in the real world, the main reason for a company to provide
documentation is a checkmark on the package list, and maybe because there
are some regulations requiring documentation with the product.
Greetings from another most unread writer...
Max Wyss
PRODOK Engineering AG
Technical documentation and translations, Electronic Publishing
CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland
Fax: +41 1 700 20 37
e-mail: mailto:prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch or 100012 -dot- 44 -at- compuserve -dot- com
Bridging the Knowledge Gap
_____________
>Funny - I have always of myself as standing shoulder to shoulder with
>the user, facing the engineer. As a TW, my most important task is to
>help the user use the product. That means I must look at the product
>from the user's perspective, not the engineer's.
>
>In a well run company, the TW is a valued member of the Product
>Management team whose opinion is sought out about things like user
>interface, etc. After all, if the product ain't easy to use, it ain't
>going to be easy to document, and if it ain't easy to document, it ain't
>going to be easy to use. (ETC) - <g>
>
>Chris Welch-Hutchings
>Sr. Technical Writer
>Home Wireless Networks, Inc.
>Norcross GA (USA)
>cwhutchings -at- homewireless -dot- com
>
