Extreme documentation is an agile methodology for developing documentation in small to medium-sized teams in the face of vague or rapidly changing requirements.
#21245
Put Your Documentation Online--From Conception to Delivery 
After attending this demonstration, you should understand: what constitutes online information; why they should consider producing documentation for online viewing and searching; how to plan for online documentation; how to prepare the text and graphic files; what is required to convert text and graphic files; into online documentation; what is required for the end user to view, search, and print the online documentation; the different ways to deliver online documentation.
Barnes Jedlicka, Linda, Margaret Eissler Jones and Herbert E. Vogt. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Online
#20112
Put Your Documentation Online: How to Deliver It to Your Users
After attending this demonstration, you should understand: what constitutes online documentation; why you should consider producing information for online viewing and searching; how to select a tool for converting text and graphics files into online documentation; how to set up an online documentation database for delivering your online libraries; what is required for the end user to view, search, and print the online documentation; the different ways to deliver online documentation; (such as diskette, on the same media as the product, CD-ROM, electronically, and on the Internet).
Vogt, Herbert E., Linda Barnes Jedlicka and Margaret Eissler Jones. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online
#19828
Putting Graphics Online: Avoiding the Pitfalls
Online information is becoming more the norm today than paper-based materials with online Help a standard with most products and the proliferation of the Internet and intranets. However, putting graphics online can be one of your biggest headaches in an online project. This paper will introduce some of the issues you will encounter when putting graphic information online and make suggestions on how to solve them.
Cooper, Charles and Ann Rockley. STC Proceedings (1997). Design>Graphic Design>Documentation
#20096
Putting Service and Support Documentation Online—Avoiding the Perils and Pitfalls
Customer satisfaction studies are valuable tools for developing documentation strategies. Information developers at Compaq Computer Corporation used a satisfaction study to develop a comprehensive strategy for producing online service and support documentation.
Siemers, Linda K., Michael R. Cloud and JoAnn T. Hackos. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Usability
#29679
Putting the Poetry of Film to Use Online
This article helps technical communicators become better informed producers of interactive, cinema-like new media objects (help systems, public information and ordering kiosks, promotional technical presentations on the web, and so on) by providing a summary of how cinema works, and then by proposing a few ways that some basic cinema editing and display techniques can be integrated into on-screen technical communications practice. The author makes the claim that if we are to begin thinking and working like film makers, the fundamental poetics and information designs we use in our new media design and development work must also change.
Gillette, David. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia>Video
#14516
Developing a methodology for creating user documentation involves the following phases: analyze need, plan, define requirements, design, construct, test, implement, and maintain. In addition to moving through these phases while creating the methodology, you must include each of these standard phases as a major section in the methodology. This paper describes how the Documentation and Training Center of Excellence used the standard project methodology phases to create and implement a methodology which tied closely to the phases.
Smittle, Linda S. and Robert C. Vestal. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Documentation>Methods
#30558
Quality Measurement for Documentation: Different Tools for Different Needs
The world of technical communication continues to search for a reliable information metric that is easy to apply and widely accepted. Although that goal eludes us for the moment, we can make a choice among competing metrics based on an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and appropriateness for different audiences. Two kinds of metrics, ordinal scale metrics and surface feature metrics, seem to meet many of our needs. The differences between them lie in their choice of measurements and the methods of applying the measurements.
Hunter, Claudia M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Quality>Assessment
#24074
Quality Online Help Development
Basic steps to developing successful online help include content planning based on available resources and user needs, use of a style guide, effective design and access, prototype development, usability studies, and being open to changes. Defining “quality” as “customer satisfaction” we can place the online help development process into the context of a continuous quality process model that focuses on meeting customer needs. This quality process includes identifying output, identifying customer and customer requirements, converting requirements into processes, measuring the output, and evaluating results.
Evans, Jeanette P. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#15178
Quality Time: How Good Documentation Cuts Development Costs
Discusses several ways project managers can control the sometimes-chaotic process of documentation development.
Woodcock, Gill. Intercom (2001). Articles>Management>Documentation
#30285
Question and Answer Method of Generating Manuals
Several Texas Instruments writing groups are using a new manual publication method that emphasizes more customer interaction early in the manual development process. This emphasis brings project teams and customers together to accurately define their expectations for the documentation. Writers chunk information as they create the manuals, which allows reviewers to look at the small pieces one at a time and to focus only on those chunks containing information pertinent to their particular expertise. This method defines manual parameters early in the process, which simplifies usability testing.
Lang, Darice. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Information Design
#31880
Quick Reference Guides: The Poetry of Technical Writing
How many times have you written a 75+ page guide and heard the customer say, This is great, but can you give us a condensed version? After the third or fourth time I’d heard this, I decided to actually try it.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Academic>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing
#21383
Experts from around the World are working on a new ISO standard for software documentation (Guidelines for the design and preparation of user documentation for application software). This article outlines how the standard is being produced, its current status and what it contains.
Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2003). Articles>Documentation>Standards
#31724
Raising Your Documentation Team's Visibility
Whether the documentation department has a staff of one or a team of 12, visibility within the company is a frequent concern. The reasons for this concern range from personal to professional. You want to be remembered when promotions and bonuses are handed out.
Potsus, Whitney Beth. Writing Assistance (2006). Careers>Management>Documentation>Workplace
#21247
For the past ten years, the Documentation Department at Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. has undergone numerous changes and evolutions--many to keep up with changing technology and market needs, many to accommodate organizational shifts and restructuring. This presentation sheds light on some of the innovative and creative ways the department has been reorganized and the dynamic documentation strategies that have been put into practice as a result.
Belcher, Gena, Scott DeLoach and Juliette Jandel-Leavitt. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Workflow
#25930
Read and Write DocBook XML Using OpenOffice.org
The project goal is to explore the possibility of using OpenOffice.org as a WYSIWYG editor of XML content. The principle is to edit structured documents using styles. These styles are then transformed to XML tags on export.
OpenOffice.org (2005). Articles>Documentation>Software>OpenOffice
#11748
My father taught me valuable lessons that I will never forget. He taught me how to maintain the family car, how to fix household appliances, and how to use garden equipment. Although would show me how to perform the task, he would stress that I read the instructions. His philosophy was based on the belief that instructions are written to teach and to prevent mistakes. What does this have to do with usability?
#28123
"Read the Manual!" What Manual?
How can I read the documentation when there is no documentation?
Manes, Stephen. InfoWorld (2001). Articles>Documentation>Technology
#22263
"Read the Manual!" What Manual?
Customer service shouldn't begin when you have a problem. It should start when a product is built, so that you don't have to futz around on the Web or wait on hold to get answers. One form of that service is good product design. Another is a great manual.
Manes, Stephen. PC World (2001). Articles>Documentation>Technology
#22829
Readable Computer Documentation 
A retrospective look shows earlier advice still relevant to both predicting and producing readable writing. For prediction, refined readability formulas with stronger criterion passages and updated familiar -word lists have appeared, although the computerization of readability tests sometimes encourages misapplying or misinterpreting them when screening text. For production, attention to sentence construction, word characteristics, and information density remains relevant to both drafting and revising computer documentation for readability, especially since reading speed and reader preference often interact with comprehension in practical settings.
Klare, George R. Journal of Computer Documentation (2000). Articles>Documentation>Assessment>Usability
#30555
Reader-Centered Documentation Provides the Necessary Context
A features-based approach to documentation is appropriate for reference manuals, where the goal is to provide information on something the reader already knows. This article explores how to meet the needs of the reader when providing documentation for user manuals.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2007). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design
#28129
The Real Value in Sarbanes-Oxley
Companies are finding unexpected business and IT benefits in compliance.
Melymuka, Kathleen. ComputerWorld (2006). Articles>Documentation>Legislation>Workplace
#14548
A “Real World” Look at Windows Help Authoring Tools
Aha, you say, you’ve finally gotten permission to go online. And your boss has even allocated enough precious-budget dollars to buy the right hardware and software to do the job. How hard can if be to find a good authoring tool, you think. And then you start to receive the product literature from n developers of Windows help authoring tools . . .
Zubak, Cheryl Lockett. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Documentation>Help>Online
#24320
This paper describes an online documentation delivery and feedback solution developed to meet the needs of a fast-paced project in which designers, developers, marketing specialists, technical writers, and beta-test customer sites were located all over the world. During the development of the IBM Health Data Network, we needed a way to provide drafts of the product documentation to all of the developers, reviewers, and users on a real-time basis. We also needed a way to get input and updates from the developers, and feedback from the people in the field who were working with beta versions of the new system. This paper describes how we set up a Web-based solution to meet these needs.
Vogt, Herbert E. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#27807
Recipe for Designing Usable Documentation
What makes documentation usable? Usable documentation accommodates the way I think. Hart summarizes his principles for define 'user-friendly documentation.'
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Usability Interface (2006). Articles>Documentation>Usability
#21574
Reconstructing the Dialogs: Effective Methods for Structuring a Context-Sensitive Help System
When assigned to create a context-sensitive hypertext Help system, writers and editors often find themselves asking, 'Where do I start? What is context-sensitivity and how in-depth should it be? How do I organize Help topics for the interface?' We will demonstrate how to structure a Help system based on context-sensitivity, the interface, and useful access tools. We will show how WordPerfect Domestic Documentation Services uses interface information to create a topics database and a corresponding text file.
Calhoun, Deirdre and Wendy Fritzke. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
