the reader
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The
most important person:
the reader |
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| What
does a technical author do?
The work of a technical author The most important person: the reader What should you look for in a technical author? When should you call in the technical author? Why do you need a technical author? What does a technical author need? What if you can't afford a technical author? |
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The very first
thing to do when starting documentation is to determine who the readers
will be, and in what circumstances they will use the documentation.
From this the technical author determines, in consultation with the client or other interested parties:
Documentation should be planned around the reader's needs. Manuals, for example, are generally best organised to reflect the tasks that the user must carry out. Other forms of organisation (for example, by menu option) are very useful in appendices or as additional reference manuals, but are usually not suitable for the main user guide. Remember that user documentation represents your product or service to the user. Many people wish to see it before deciding on a major purchase. Also, think of your technical author as representing your users to you.
The technical author will have a good idea of what the users will expect
of your product and how they will react to its user interface. So, involve
the technical author fully in design, debugging and user interface testing.
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This
is version 2, November 2002.
Copyright © 1999-2002 Richard
Burnham and
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