Frequently asked questions
Why do I need documentation?
There are five main reasons:
- Making sure everyone in the organisation is doing things the same way and in the most efficient way.
- To save costs in the long term by minimising support callouts and help desk enquiries.
- To insure yourself against knowledge loss when people leave the organisation.
- Regulatory requirements.
- To enhance your reputation and increase sales of your product by having professional quality documentation to show your customers.
Who do we write for?
YOUR audience. We have the skills to view everything from the perspective of the end-user, whatever the education level or background of that person.
As an example, for one of our customers we wrote:
- A technical network architecture document for computer network support staff. The document contained language such as Citrix, thin client and other networking jargon.
- An application user guide for staff who may not have even used a computer before! The document started off by explaining all the parts of the computer, how to turn it on, how to log in, and how to access and run the application. This document had to be structured so that those users who had little computer expertise could use and understand the application just as well as those users who had prior computer knowledge.
What do we write?
The easiest way to describe what a technical writer writes is anything non-fiction.
The materials we have written include:
Computer applications
- User manuals for computer applications
- Online help and context-sensitive help
- Web-based help
- Functional design and detailed design documentation for developers
- Network architecture documentation
- Training materials
- Technical support documentation.
Warehousing
- User guides for warehousing applications
- Training materials for staff working in all parts of a warehouse operation - sales office, warehouse management, warehouse floor
- Policies and procedures.
Engineering
- Operator's manuals.
General
- Standard operating procedures
- Training materials - online, instructor-led and competency-based
- Website and intranet content
- HR manuals
- Financial procedures
- Quality systems documentation
- Marketing brochures
- Newsletters.
What tools do we use?
We use whatever tools suit your organisation. For example, we:
- use AuthorIT extensively for its single-sourcing capabilities - visit the AuthorIT website to find out more about AuthorIT
- are power users of Microsoft Word®
- have used RoboHelp and other authoring software.
We bring together everything you need to produce quality documentation with expertise in graphics capture and manipulation, other Microsoft Office® products and web publishing.
Why do I need a technical writer?
A technical writer can add value to your business in a number of different ways.
In business today, staff are required to write high quality, clear documentation:
- business cases
- risk assessments
- instruction manuals
- training guides
- user guides
- procedures.
Writing is part of everyday business life. But:
- How much time have your staff got to spend on making their words effective?
- How readable is the result?
- How consistent?
- Can they put themselves in the shoes of their audience and write at an appropriate level?
- Are they able to produce high quality documentation that takes the needs of the audience and other stakeholders into account?
- Keep on top of all other business processes?
A technical writer is an effective and skilled communicator. In addition to superior writing skills, technical writers are:
- skilled as interviewers
- independent observers
- usability experts
- researchers
- business analysts.
However, there is a common perception that employing a technical writer is an unnecessary luxury in the business environment. Thus, business and IT managers, project and other staff are left to struggle with documentation and writing tasks themselves.
The result?
- Documentation can be lengthy and time consuming.
- Translation and transmission of an organisation's knowledge to end users and other stakeholders can be slow.
- Business processes are at risk of slowing down and projects can stop all together, simply due to lack of time and expertise.
But this need not be the case in your business! Technical writers bring a rich and broad set of high level competencies into an organisation to:
- save time and money
- quietly working alongside your staff to produce clear and concise documentation
- streamline documentation processes
- assist growth into the future.
By employing a technical writer, you are choosing to bring a new a level of expertise into your business environment, whilst at the same time supporting your staff to do what they do best. Contact us today and discover the technical writing difference.
