Re: Schedule, Cost, & Quality: Pick Two

[SteveFJong -at- aol -dot- com]

Melonie McMichael <melonie -dot- mcmichael -at- amd -dot- com> wrote: 

>> Doing it right the first time will still take an experienced, quality 
writer
>> which equals cost. Also, it takes longer to do it right the first time
>> which also equals cost and time.
>> So, now we are back to "good, quick or cheap: pick any two."

I guess I would disagree with both your statements. Yes, doing it right the 
first time can take an experienced, expensive writer; but it can also be done 
by almost any writer with good support in place--good processes, good specs, 
or a coherent development environment.

I'd also say that doing it right the first time is always the fastest way to 
get to the right result. (Of course, if you do it wrong you may get results 
faster, but they won't be right! That's only the cheapest route if you stop 
at "wrong" 8^)

I learned a lot from a colleague at a large computer vendor, now extinct, 
that made an office suite (WP, e-mail, spreadsheet) in the days of 
character-cell terminals. We introduced an e-mail product with three 
interfaces: command-line, menu-driven, and office suite. A coworker was 
assigned to write the user's guide for the free-standing, menu-driven 
version; my colleague was assigned to write the user's guide for the 
office-suite, menu-driven version (which was very similar in scope). Our 
coworker jumped on the project and buzzed along for three months, meeting 
daily with the engineer to track every change to the code as it emerged, 
putting in long hours, turning out weekly "snap drafts" of the most volatile 
chapter. Meanwhile, my colleague sat back with the spec and wrote the 
introduction, the appendixes... all the non-volatile parts. He also worked 
9-5 like a metronome. The last week he wrote the chapter reflecting the most 
volatile code; by then it had settled down.

The day the books were due, my coworker had one beautifully written and 
totally accurate chapter; my colleague had the complete book, just as 
beautifully written and accurate. Then he went home 8^)

(Guess who got paid more? Happily, the one who earned it.)

          -- Steve

Steven Jong, Documentation Team Manager ("Typo?  What tpyo?")
Lightbridge, Inc., 67 S. Bedford St., Burlington, MA 01803 USA
mailto:Jong -at- lightbridge -dot- com   781.359.4902[V], 781.359.4500[F]
Home Sweet Homepage: http://members.aol.com/SteveFJong