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Subject:Re: TW Responsibilities From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- EXPERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 11 Feb 1999 12:46:42 -0800
At 02:12 PM 2/11/99 -0500, Michelle Vina-Baltsas wrote:
>Hi all!
>
>I'm curious, do any of you get involved in other aspects of product
>development (specifically software development) other than writing the
>documentation? For example, do you interact with the professional
>printers, artists, etc., or does the product manager handle that kinda
>stuff? I'm very curious to hear all responses.
I usually like to strike a bargain with marketing -- they do the cardboard,
I do the paper. ;-) In other words, I do the book pages, they do the
cover and the box. This usually works out well for both departments.
That said, I work with marketing to decide on printer, paper weight,
box size, etc. and, once that's finalized, I'm the one that deals
with the printer when it comes to delivering book files and approving
book proofs. The "cardboard stuff" usually gets proofed separately.
Although marketing usually consults with an outside artist for
the box and cover art, I get copies of the files and "run with 'em"
to provide the electronic art for the product (icons, toolbar buttons,
etc.).
On the development side, I offer suggestions on interface design --
usually welcome and appreciated, but that depends on the company --
and I edit error messages and act as all-around consistency police.
Sometimes (depending on the company and the product) they let me out
of my cage so I can do usability testing.
I'm frequently called upon to manage training materials and help produce
white papers, and when the marketing department gets downsized, I'm next
in line for webmaster.
I also offer editing services to the company-at-large, so I've had my
fingers in legal documents, tech support FAQs...
