Re: Documentation Evaluaton

["Amy G. Peacock" <apeacock -at- WOLFENET -dot- COM>]

On Fri, 16 Oct 1998, Thomas Quine wrote:

> My team of seven technical writers has just finished a 10-piece
> documentation suite. We are looking for strategies for evaluating the
> effectiveness of the package externally - most likely by our customers.
> Some options are:
> 1.      Circulate an evaluation questionnaire
> 2.      Conduct phone interviews
> 3.      Conduct document usability tests
> 4.      ?
> Does anyone have experience with this they can share? What do you
> recommend?
> Does anyone have a sample questionnaire they've used effectively in the
> past?

I just finished a project and with the intial evaluation of it (it's
an internal piece) I sent out a brief questionnaire for them to fill
in. The results were positive - I think mostly because I didn't make
the evaluation too hard or too long. The users of the software are
busy people and I knew they wouldn't be willing to fill out some long,
involved thing. It's for that reason that I would probably not call
them to get the feedback I needed. I give them an email address to
send more feedback or other ideas for future documentation.

For me it worked (at least this time). I think the key is to balance
your need to get feedback with the user's need to get on with other
things and create a questionnaire according to those needs. My
questionnaire was about 2 pages long with T/F and scale (1-5)
questions. I also left room for comments for those who felt the need
(and had the time) to elaborate.

BTW, part of the evaluation was a usability test by a user who knew
nothing about the program. She reacted favorably top the documentation
as well.


Amy Peacock
techwriter & jewelrymaker
Snohomish, Washington
apeacock -at- wolfenet -dot- com

"How do I set my laser printer to stun?"

These are my opinions, not my employer's.


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