Case Study: Reaching New Markets Through Clear Documentation

Triangle is a systems integrator in the UK with about 150 employees. It extended the functionality of the InfoGenesis point of sale software onto hand-held terminals. To turn this into a commercial off-the-shelf product, Triangle needed clear documentation for resellers and for staff managers at customer sites. Triangle lacked the expertise needed to produce effective documentation, so it outsourced the documentation development. The new documentation enables Triangle to roll out the software internationally using resellers, and keeps Triangle's support costs to a minimum.

Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2008). Articles>Documentation>Case Studies

Challenging Old Key Factor Assumptions to Revamp Documentation Strategy  

The Information Products (IP) group at Sun Microsystems Computer Company (SMCC) recently revamped thew documentation strategy for computer server products. While creating the new model, we realized that our goal for more streamlined documentation would be more attainable if we did not restrict ourselves. Instead of starting with an old, key factor assumption — that manuals should be written with 'Who is the customer?' in mind — we addressed questions such as 'What tasks are required during installation and maintenance?' and 'Who perform these tasks?' By replacing some old ideas with fresh ones, we developed a new documentation strategy.

Daniels-Ball, Denise. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Case Studies

Customized Book-Based Electronic Collections: Case Study and Exploration of Issues  

Collections of technical documentation vary in their delivery media, file format, user interface and degree of integration of the component documents or information. This paper looks at definitions and attributes of collections before reviewing the development of book- based, customized CD collections in a company operating in a fast-changing industry. Issues arising from this case study are explored and findings are used to identify a broad categorization of collections and build a starting point check list for collection design. Major issues in collection building are summarized.

Symonds, Yosef. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Documentation>Online>Case Studies

Developing Documentation for ISO 9000 Certification: Case Studies from the United States and Europe  

This panel discussion clarifies the implications of ISO 9000 certification for writers and editors and presents European and U.S. approaches to developing documentation for certification.

Carom, Barbara L., Mary Louise O'Connell and Wesley Chase. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Case Studies>ISO 9000

Integrating Partner Information Using XML and XSL

Having learned that two of these database companies already used single-source files for their error messages, BMC Software integrated the information about the error messages from the database companies. We accomplished our goal by negotiating with our partner companies for the source files of the error message information. This session discusses how we took those source files and modified them to create simple XML files, then transformed them into HTML using XSL transforms within a BMC Software product.

Gentle, Anne. WritersUA (2006). Articles>Documentation>XML>Case Studies

Moving to Electronic Delivery of Documentation  

'Moving to Electronic Delivery of Documentation' includes information about the fundamentals of electronic documentation, case studies, what to expect, how to research, identify, and implement a process for moving from an exclusively hard copy documentation development and delivery process to electronic documentation development and delivery.

Robertson, Angela and Sandy Storey. STC Proceedings (2000). Articles>Documentation>Online>Case Studies

Online Help Across the Great Platform Divide: A Case Study  

The requirements of your online help task narrows and focuses your choice of authoring and compiling tools. The first and most important step is to clearly define your task. What exactly do you need to create and from what? In National Instruments’ case, we had to maintain our competitive advantage by adding Windows help to our bestselling application software package. Secondarily, we wanted to port that help to versions for the Macintosh and several UNIX platforms. Due to time and personnel restraints, we used the material prepared for the hard copy documentation to create the WinHelp.

Chamberlain, Thomas R. and Debby Gumto. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Case Studies

Predictive Metrics: How Long Will It Take?  

Presents a case study in which the authors develop methodology for calculating how long it will take a team of writers to produce a documentation set. The methodology takes into account different types of documentation and documentation quality, and accounts for variations in writer productivity.

Pope, Mike and Sharon A. Meramore. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Documentation>Case Studies

Topic-Based Writing to the Rescue: Project Considerations for Managers

The purpose of this case study is neither to simply rehash the project nor to provide a pressure-cooker story that others can use as a comparative benchmark. This article looks at the decision points within the project and provides an analysis from a real-life, practical approach that other technical communication managers can use when called upon to engage in a rescue project of their own.

Bailie, Rahel Anne. TechCom Manager (2008). Articles>Documentation>Project Management>Case Studies

Going from Word to Wiki

One writer's experiences and thoughts about moving content from Microsoft Word to a wiki.

DMN Communications (2008). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Case Studies

Firefox’s Revolutionary Community Approach to Customer Support

The Firefox Support Knowledge Base is a collaborative work of dozens of contributors, the Support Forum is bustling with people answering questions, and Live Chat is manned by dedicated team of community members.

Nelson Ko. NelsonKo.com (2008). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Case Studies

How Google Does Help

Last week Google released Google Voice, a service that allows you to integrate all your phones into one number and includes a host of features, including voice mail, recording, conference calling, and other services. To help users get started, Google Voice has a list of 20 short videos. Only the overview video contains animation. It’s certainly the video they’ve put the most work into, and it also functions as marketing collateral.

Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia>Case Studies

The Two-Click Mandate: A Case Study

One technical communication team delivered answers to user questions in two clicks with a help file created in DITA XML, using structured writing, different tools and a new information architecture. Content was linked one-to-one with application elements. Hyperlinks in one area of each screen make user access easy. The communicators established a linking strategy, used natural language for guided navigation and developed a reuse strategy involving references instead of duplication of content. The result was delivery of an InfoCenter that's easy to maintain and to expand, which a portion of the team will be doing for the next 20+ years.

Lowe, Karen. Writers UA (2009). Articles>Documentation>DITA>Case Studies

The Atlassian Contributor License Agreement Comes of Age

In early March we opened up the Atlassian documentation to the wider community. We added a CC-by (Creative Commons Attribution) license to our product documentation. We invited people to contribute to our documentation after signing an Atlassian Contributor License Agreement (ACLA). At that stage, the ACLA was just starting its three-month trial. The trial period has now ended, and we're delighted to say: it's a go!

Maddox, Sarah. Atlassian Blog, The (2009). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Case Studies

Pragmatic DITA on a Budget  

A small documentation team working on a tight budget can now use the tool ecosystem enabled by the DITA standard to create the sophisticated content that previously required long and expensive projects. The author spent just nine person-weeks over three years to replace a custom XML system with a DITA system based on a combination of off-the-shelf software, authoring conventions, and custom scripts.

Baptista, Joaquim. ACM SIGDOC (2008). Articles>Documentation>DITA>Case Studies

I Got Dragons and Tweets in My Documents

There’s a place for a lighter touch in much of the online documentation we write. It’s a delicate balance. On the one hand, it’s important that the writing style does not annoy or offend the reader and does not detract from the content. We also need to be aware of people whose first language is not the one we’re writing in. On the other hand, the occasional touch of humour or personality can focus the reader’s attention onto the page.

Maddox, Sarah. ffeathers (2009). Articles>Documentation>Wikis>Case Studies