Re: What Is The Main Task of a Technical Writer ???

[Marilyn Fenter <mfenter -at- PTC -dot- COM>]

> >What is the main task of a technical writer?  Systems analysts state
> >that "98% of the required work in any project is identifying the tasks
> >that the end users perform and how those tasks interrelate".  Does this
> >rule hold true for technical writing projects?
>
Matthew Bin wrote:

> Oddly enough, I think that the main reason TWs are needed is that, when
> it comes to documentation, non-TWs (even systems analysts) refuse to
> follow the above rule.  I find that when I rewrite a programmer's
> documentation, it is a matter of organising the information according to
> what the user has to do, rather than according to how the program was
> built.
>
> Matthew Bin
> NeoDyne Consulting, Ltd.
> Mississauga, ON
>
>
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I agree with Matthew.  The technical writer must sometimes wade through
excessive information that only the programmer needs and then rewrite
the documention from the user's point of view.  What the user wants to
see is the writer's job.  That is why it is so important to know who the
audience is.  One of the most helpful exercises I have been involved in
has been as a participant (mostly silent) in a User Focus Group meeting.
The users talk to each other and to the forum in general and teach us who
they are.  The hard part for me is keeping my mouth closed! :-)

Marilyn Fenter
Parametric Technology Corp.
Waltham, MA