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Subject:Re: User documentation as product specs? From:Karen Otto <KAREN_OTTO -at- HP-SPOKANE-OM2 -dot- OM -dot- HP -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 19 Apr 1996 09:53:04 -0600
Item Subject: cc:Mail Text
Frank,
I think your company is trying to do the right thing, but they seem to
have missed the point.
Meeting the users' needs is the paramount objective. The documentation
and the rest of the product are merely tools to achieve that
objective.
Where you really need to start is with the user identification, and
work with developers and marketeers to create a list of the users'
needs.
From that, you can evaluate what the requirements are for
documentation, HW, SW, and other parts of the product.
Finally, you will have to evaluate which of these needs you can
actually fulfill, given your resource restrictions. Then you have a
useful product specification. You can also easily derive priorities
for features from this specification.
Maybe you can influence the product development cycle by presenting
the users' needs in place of the documentation outline as the starting
point.
It sounds exciting! I find it thrilling to have that kind of influence
on the product.
regards,
Karen Otto
Hewlett-Packard
Spokane Division
karen_otto -at- hp-spokane-om2 -dot- om -dot- hp -dot- com
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