TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> I have heard of some metrics for technical editing. My
> understanding is that the metric used by a global software
> and o/s provider is 6 pages/hour; the metric used by a
> leading systems developer in Silicon Valley is 9 pages/hour;
> and the metric suggested by CMS is 1.5 pages/hour. These
> metrics are used for budgeting and project management
> purposes, sometimes without allowing for contingencies or
> pauses for queries.
I'd be very interested in hearing from *anyone* who can produce nine
pages of quality documentation from scratch in an hour, or even cobble
together nine pages of junky source. I think that estimate is absurd.
Maybe because I've always worked for start-ups and I've always been
sidetracked into QA and training materials, but sometimes I'm lucky to
get nine pages done in a WEEK on a new application. And then they redo
the UI and I have to rewrite it all anyway, so there you have that.
Another thing about start-ups though, is that as Jim said, we usually
work on the "How long will it take?" "That depends, when will you need
it?" system of documentation estimates.
On freelance projects, I've always taken a Gestalt view of the project.
I've never done an estimate that was only based on the number of
expected pages. And if I did, you can bet I wouldn't use anything close
to 9 pages an hour. Yikes!
Carlin Equities and its affiliates? (Carlin) e-mail systems are for business purposes only. Messages are not confidential. Authorized supervisors, compliance personnel, or internal auditors may review all e-mail. E-mail will be archived for at least three years and may be produced to regulatory agencies or others with a legal right to access such information. Carlin will not accept trade order instructions via e-mail. Please telephone your firm representative or the Order Room to place trade orders.
Please be advised that any discussion of U.S. tax matters contained within this communication, including any attachment, cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding U.S. tax-related penalties or promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include single source authoring, team authoring,
Web-based technology, and PDF output. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot-
