Document Development Life Cycle (Technical Writing)

Need For Life Cycle

=>Meets the need of the environment
=>Verifiable
=>Repeatable
=>Can be followed by someone other than you

How Much Documentation?

Marketing Documents: Brochure, Case Study, Press release, Product handbook, Marketing Script, Advertising copy, White Paper, Data Sheet.

Reporting Document: Magazine and Newspaper articles, Technical Paper, Annual Report, Website

Instructing Document: User Manual, Installation Manual, Glossary, Training Material, Online Tutorials, and Quick Start Guides.

1. Understanding the requirements

a. Study of Functional Domain: Research, Understand (Brainstorming, Mapping and Modeling)
b. Know Your Audience: Internal Source and External Sources
c. Document Specification-From the client, From the company

2. Why Outline a Document?

=>To be sure there is no misunderstanding over frame of reference
=>To have a overview of the project
=>To be reminded of the information to be collected
=>To appreciate the relationships between the information gathered
=>To identify gaps

Thought about the structure?

a. What is the primary organization of the content?
b. What are the methods of searching, viewing, and browsing?
c. What is the main presentation idea?
d. What are the convincing features?

Thought about the content

a. Does this product use existing content?
b. Do you purpose the existing content?
c. If New, How is it captured and created?
d. What is the main presentation idea?
e. What are the convincing features?

Other Considerations

a. Technical Requirements
b. Delivery Requirements
c. Staffing
d. Timeline
e. Budget
f. Prototyping
g. Developing a Template (Print/Online)
h. Developing a Style Guide
i. Developing the contents of a sample section
j. Testing a sample section for a perspective user

Retrieving aids

Table of content
Cross References
Hypertext
Glossary
Index

3. Prototyping
i) Developing a Template (Print/Online)
ii) Developing a Style Guide
iii) Developing the contents of a sample section
iv) Testing a sample section for a perspective user

4. Development

i) To develop the documents
ii) To consider means to incorporate retrievability aids like table of contents, cross references hypertext, glossary and indexing

5. Reviews

i) Peer Review (Format, Font and grammar, Handling Personality Clashes)
ii) Quality Review( Factual Errors, Modification, Completeness)
iii) Technical Review
iv) Functional Review

6. Packaging

a. For Print (Book Design and Binding)
b. For Online Help (Independent Help, Content Sensitive Help, What's This Help)