Agile programming has grown in popularity and it has led to new challenges for those involved in providing user assistance for those applications. So is it time for technical authors to develop an equivalent method for developing content for these projects? Is it time to develop an “Agile authoring” methodology? Also, if we want to… Read more »
Category: project management
Is “document late” a good idea?
One of the strategies in the Agile methodology is to create documentation as late as possible. Is this actually a good idea? According to Scott Ambler: A common agile practice is to defer the creation of all deliverable documentation as late as possible, creating them just before you need to actually deliver them…Fundamentally, this strategy… Read more »
Towards Agile authoring
Agile programming has grown in popularity, and it has lead to new challenges for those involved in providing User Assistance for those applications. So is it time for Technical Authors to develop an equivalent method for developing content for these projects? Is it time to develop an “Agile authoring” methodology? Such a method needs to… Read more »
Free ebook on applying Lean principles in User Assistance
The Content Development team at Cherryleaf has created a a free eBook that provides help and advice on applying Lean principles to User Assistance. This short ebook explains how the principles of Lean manufacturing can be applied to developing software User Assistance and other forms of technical documentation. Lean is the parent/cousin of Agile Development,… Read more »
The Lean user guide
It was suggested I read The Lean Startup, by Eric Riess. This book outlines how principles of Lean manufacturing can be applied to startup businesses, and software businesses in particular. For startups, it’s about how to figure out the right thing to build – that people will pay for – as quickly as possible. I’m still reading it, and so far, it is very good.
It begs the question:
Where does user documentation fit in a Lean startup, and can the principles of Lean be applied to User Assistance?