Re: FWD: Are my docs un-useful?

[Glen Warner <gdwarner -at- ricochet -dot- net>]

anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com wrote:

> Hi guys.  I work for an eBusiness Consulting firm.  We provide custom
> applications and network solutions for our clients.  In T.C. school, 
I was
> always taught that my goal as a good techwriter is to provide useful
> documents that meet the needs of your audience.  Here's my dilemma:  
> My audience often does not think they need my docs, but my project 
manager
> thinks they do.

(*snip*)

Just a couple suggestions for you, um ... anon. :o)

You might suggest to your supervisor that he pass along copies of 
these comments to you so you could better tailor your docs to their 
needs (or something like that; be creative here!).

You might also try suggesting the customers be sent a survey to gather 
the necessary information.

Finally, you might try either doing a couple weeks' time in your 
company's tech support department.  After a couple weeks on the phones 
(where you might try sneaking in a few survey questions, wink wink), 
you should have a good idea of what your customers need.

Unfortunately, your supervisor may shoot down all three of these 
ideas.  If this is the case, you might want to talk to the tech 
support folk yourself.  See if you can sit in on any meetings they 
have.  Just listening to the complaints (if any) should give you some 
idea of what problems your customers are having.

Good luck ....

--gdw