In 1513, Niccolò Machiavelli sat in exile and wrote the most ruthlessly practical guide to power ever committed to paper. He wasn’t interested in how things should work. He was interested in how they do. Five centuries later, most SaaS companies treat their user documentation as an afterthought: a support cost to minimise, a page… Read more »
Category: strategy
When a competitor reduces their documentation team: What it might mean and how to respond
A cloud data company recently made what it described as targeted staff cuts, eliminating its entire technical writing and documentation department. According to reports, the Product Managers will take on documentation responsibilities from now on. There may be perfectly sound reasons for this. For example: cost pressures, a need to move faster to market, confidence… Read more »
Podcast 113: Using heatmaps & recordings to improve Hotjar’s knowledge base, with Karissa Van Baulen
We talk to Karissa Van Baulen, Customer Education Lead and Knowledge Base Owner at Hotjar. We discuss how she has used heatmaps and playback recordings to improve Hotjar’s knowledge base. What does Hotjar do? Why are heatmaps important? How have you used heatmaps and recordings to improve Hotjar’s knowledge base? How easy is this to do?… Read more »
Podcast 112: Nobody ever wants to buy software, with Toby Chapman-Dawe
Ellis talked to Toby Chapman Dawe of Strand UK about why he claims nobody ever wants to buy software. Toby is Managing Director of Strand. Toby specialises in communicating the business benefits of enterprise technology. Formerly a journalist in the UK writing for trade and national press, Toby transferred to the world of advertising in… Read more »
Keeping focus when implementing a digital strategy
On Wednesday, I saw a presentation by Rosie Hatton, the Strategy Delivery Lead for Parliament’s Digital Service (PDS), at the House of Parliament. Her presentation was called “Why Parliament’s Digital Strategy is like a Cottage Pie”. “Through its 2016-2021 digital strategy, Parliament is changing how it works to improve how it engages with citizens. Our goal… Read more »