Re: Agile software development and effect on techwriting

Subject: Re: Agile software development and effect on techwriting
From: Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: Solveig Haugland <solveig -at- techwriterstuff -dot- com>, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 08:44:18 -0800 (PST)

> 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?

You work along side development. I have a project in
which my team is doing that right now. Major coding
and first draft of documentation ends at the end of
this month. Code and documentation cleanup happens for
2-3 weeks after that, then formal product release
testing, then prodution.

Unless you work in an organization where EVERYTHING
changes in the last week of development, there is
absolutely no reason why you shouldn't have the
majority of the documentation written and ready to go
by the time development is "done". You may need a day
or two to make sure any last-minute GUI changes are
reflected in the documentation, but two months?
Frankly, we don't have that kind of time to waste, so
we work while development works. And you know, oddly
enough, usability issues are caught early on in the
product and developers are more readily available for
information, and all the info is fresh in everyone's minds.

=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)

"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart

We can't all be as creative with sigs as krautgrrl. ;-)

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References:
Agile software development and effect on techwriting: From: Solveig Haugland

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