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Great article.
I would add a small point: learn how to listen to each developer you
interview.
While some developers may expound at great length on their subject of
expertise, others may explain things very briefly. Sometimes those who talk
the most get into unncessary details, whereas those who speak less may leave
out important details. As a technical writer, it's important to know enough
about the subject before interviewing the developer, so that you can ask the
right questions. Yet you also need some distance from the subject matter, so
that you can differentiate between the details that more and less important
to document. By analyzing and adapting to each developer's "teaching style",
you can learn what sorts of questions to ask, and how to ask them.
For example, there's one particular developer I used to interview alot, who
can go into incredibly complex and technical detail about, well, just about
anything. While he's very interesting to talk to, sometimes it's a bit much
(e.g., Q: "What time is it?" A:"To make a watch..."). I find that it's
usually best to ask him very specific questions after doing extensive
research on my own.
Shelly
Shelly Butcher - Technical Writer
Orsus Solutions www.orsus.com mailto:shelly -at- orsus -dot- com
Ph 972-3-5386721, F 972-3-5386700
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