Agile software development and effect on techwriting

[Solveig Haugland <solveig -at- techwriterstuff -dot- com>]

Hi,

I'm reading a forum this week for programmers where they're talking
about agile software development. One of the tenets of Agile
programmers, I believe, is that they don't document things as they go
along programming since the docs are always out of date, etc. Also I
believe often the users are told to fiddle with prototypes and then give
feedback since that's a much more direct way of getting feedback on what
users actually want.

So in a world where you get great software at the very last minute, with
few docs along the way on the program except some UML and without a
solid UI to code to (I believe, not positive), how the heck do
techwriters do any docs without an extra two months at the end of the
process? Granted, one probably has better simpler UI so that helps. I
believe a tenet is also that you try to just use the program as the
documentation, for the programmers at least, and try to make a point of
making it easier, so that mind set, at least, one would think could
trickle down to a better clearer UI thus requiring less or less complex
doc.

Has anyone been on an agile software development project? What was the
effect if any that was different from usual?

Thanks,

Solveig
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solveig -at- techwriterstuff -dot- com
"Tell Me About the Typos When the Software Works."

http://www.techwriterstuff.com
Products expressing the agony and ecstacy of being a techwriter.
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