“We’ve long thought of documentation as something to be repaired. The testing process quietly assumes something else, which is that documentation is something to be executed.” I find that quote from Stephen Mallette significant because it highlights an important distinction. AI is making this issue even more important. Some organisations end up treating documentation maintenance… Read more »
Category: project management
Does this software change need documentation? Using AI to scope the work
An AI documentation scoping agent can help a content team decide whether a software change needs documentation, what work is likely, and whether a writer has enough reliable information to begin. Evidence first, generation second If a pull request changes a parameter, does the API reference need updating? Should the change appear in the release… Read more »
Just in time documentation – some pros and cons
Bri Hillmer has written two articles on Just-In-Time documentation (https://www.knowledgeowl.com/home/just-in-time-documentation-a-practical-guide and https://www.knowledgeowl.com/home/just-in-time-documentation). This is an alternative to what she called Just-In-Case documentation. The idea is you write topics that answer real world queries users ask the Support team. This rather than writing a comprehensive user guide, just in case someone wants to know about topic… Read more »
New note-taking methods for technical communicators
Note-taking is an important part of a technical communication process. A typical project can move from the account manager to the project manager, and then onto the technical communicator. Sharing information gathered at client meetings with project team members is often done through internal meetings and phone calls, handover documents written in Word, and other related… Read more »
Being Agile in technical documentation – Part two
Two years ago, we wrote a number of posts, and an Adobe-sponsored whitepaper, on Agile and its effects on technical communication. This topic was picked by others, including Sarah O’Keefe and Mattias Sander, who made further suggestions. We thought it was time to revisit this topic, and expand on some of the issues raised. In Part… Read more »