Requirements: A Primer for Communicators  

Poorly written requirements are the single biggest point of failure in the development of new software systems. Requirements that are not carefully defined or are written in ambiguous terms result in an endless stream of re- working and budget overruns. Smart project managers these days are trying to solve the problem with the addition of professional communicators to their project teams to both elicit crisp requirements and express them in simple, accessible terms.

Shelton, Jan D. and Karen A. Steele. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Project Management>Proposals

The Role of Project Managers in Interface Design

This describes the role that I played as program manager for IE5.0, and the basic process we used. It's a good anecdote as to how one team managed the cross discipline work of design and usability, with the engineering and development process.

Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (1999). Design>Project Management>User Interface

RUP and Goal-Directed Design: Toward a New Development Process

Interaction design methodologies, such as Goal-Directed Design, tackle the software development process from the top down by defining specific product requirements and interface behavior based on research and user needs. The Rational Unified Process (RUP) and other agile programming methodologies attack software development from the bottom up. RUP creates fluid efficiencies for iterating product development during the construction phase in order to react to changing product requirements while still producing shipping code.

Cronin, Dave. Cooper Interaction Design (2003). Articles>Project Management>Programming

Searching for the Center of Design

Design is driven by many considerations. But on each project I've worked on, there seems to be a consistent center — a driver that determines priorities, direction, and the metrics used to measure success.

McMullin, Jess. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Project Management

Service-Oriented Project Management

The primary reason most projects fail is because the focus of the execution and the measurement of projects is too narrow and inwardly directed.

Manas, Jerry. Gantthead (2008). Articles>Project Management

Setting Up Business Stakeholder Interviews Part 2

In part one, Michael shared how to navigate company politics to set up great stakeholder interviews. Here he covers his five tips for navigating company politics, avoiding client bias, and eliciting the information you need to inform your design.

Beavers, Michael. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Articles>Interviewing>Project Management>User Centered Design

Shift Focus from Project Details to Work Processes  

Avoid looking too closely at the details when taking on a project.

Watson, Steven A. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Project Management>Methods

The Six Biggest Mistakes Project Managers Make with Documentation and How to Avoid Them

Professional business writers, such as technical authors, typically break a document down into small, discrete units of information, organised around a skeleton of topic headings. If you use this 'component' or 'modular' approach, you can plan and structure the document using the heading 'labels' that describe each section.

Pratt, Ellis. Cherryleaf (2007). Articles>Documentation>Planning>Project Management

Six Reasons You Don't Need a Technical Writer (and Why They're Dead Wrong!)

Hiring the right freelancer to do the job correctly the first time around could save you hundreds or thousands in help desk calls, service calls, document revision, and distribution. Here's why.

Zuccardy, Ann. Ezine Articles (2005). Articles>Project Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Some Laws of the Jungle And Why They Apply to Us Civilized Folks

Strategize, coordinate, then mentor.

Yorke, Peter. STC India (2003). Presentations>Management>Project Management

Squelching Project Creep

We've all been there. The Project that never seems to end and then (finally!) ends badly. Unfortunately, the all-important post-project analysis is a step that's often left off the 'to do' list, so how can you head off another project disappointment? Let's face it. Project plans are theory, so they can be picture perfect; project planning, however, is practice, and practice must take into account the inevitable changes that will occur throughout a project.

Edwards, Verlane. STC Central Iowa (2001). Articles>Project Management

A Stake in the Ground: A Successful Approach to Project Estimating and Tracking  

Project management is an increasingly important skill for technical communicators. Specifically, by accurately estimating and tracking projects we can help justify resources, identify areas to improve cycle times, or even justify the existence of jobs. Estimating projects occurs early in the process during the analyze and plan phases. It improves with practice. Tracking is done throughout the entire process, although a majority of the data are gathered during the development phase. Successful estimating and tracking includes these elements: identifying estimating metrics, projecting project life cycle costs and hours, recording actual hours and costs, comparing estimates to actuals, and documenting improvements based on experience.

Friend, Amy S. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Project Management>Planning>Estimating

Stop Super-Sizing Your Release Plans  

As Agile development teams gain success, the team's bottleneck moves up the food chain to product owners. To support rapid and iterative progress, development teams are demanding that product owners switch from traditional approaches of super-sizing long release cycles to a continuous flow of independent, negotiable and small, bite-sized morsels.

Martens, Ryan. Rally Software Development (2006). Presentations>Project Management>Agile

Stop Super-sizing Your Release Plans  

In this presentation Ryan Martens and Luke Hohmann describe and show product owners how to think in terms of small, evenly spaced meals. They will introduce Agile principles, processes, tools and organizational structures that enable product owners to support their Agile development team's need for continuous, just-in-time elaboration of requirements and acceptance tests.

Martens, Ryan. Rally Software Development (2005). Presentations>Project Management>Agile

Straight From the Horse's Mouth: You Only See the Tip

Bill Wetherell talks with Tom Wailes about how one team at Yahoo! turned the normal design process on its head. Their thoughtful approach was successful, Wails posits, because they worked small and crafty while being inclusive in most useful ways.

Wodtke, Christina and Bill Wetherell. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Design>Web Design>Project Management

Strategic Planning  

What is strategic planning? A process for determining: where you are; where you intend to be; how you’re going to get there.

Hackos, JoAnn T. ComTech Services (2000). Careers>Management>Project Management

Strategic Planning at a Government Laboratory: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Technical Information Department's Experience with Planning     

While acknowledging all the ways in which LLNL has failed to make optimal use of strategic planning tools, the authors believe that this planning process has helped their organization to disengage from the everyday 'work harder' perspective and to refocus on the 'work smarter' or 'putting the ladder against the right wall' goal, insofar as they have been able to do. The authors maintain that however imperfect one's strategic planning process is, it is nevertheless the best way to focus management attention. When a plan is flawed, its existence enables others (whether employees, upper management, or interested reviewers) to criticize and thereby improve it. Each year's plan further serves as the foundation for a better plan the next time around, defined in whatever way makes sense to the management team.

Peterson, Steve and Mara Niels. Technical Communication Online (1997). Articles>Management>Project Management>Government

Strategic Planning: How 'Bifocal Vision' and a Living Document Create Success    

Technical communication managers may not be practicing strategic planning because they receive mixed messages about the need to plan and the need to be flexible and receptive to change. Yet today's manager must have ?bifocal vision: the ability to both commit to a plan that creates operational efficiency and to anticipate (and participate in) its change. A strategic plan must be understood as a living document--created to be updated. This article integrates current management theory on strategic planning with the author's experiences in strategic planning as an information systems manager. Written and oral communication have significant roles in creating, disseminating, and implementing strategic plans. Vision and mission statements, workplans and project management, steering committees and status reports are the means to 'live out the plan.' Finally, the article provides recommendations for technical communication professionals.

Kryder, Leeanne G. Technical Communication Online (1997). Articles>Management>Project Management

Strategic Thinking and Planning for Information Development Organizations  

This panel will introduce the audience to the basic concepts and components of strategic thinking and planning and will provide practical examples of application in a variety of information-development organizations.

Breuninger, Charles L., JoAnn T. Hackos, Heather J. Fox and Angela W. McAlister. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Project Management>Planning

Strategies for Sizing UCD Projects

When discussing strategies for sizing UCD projects with consultants, it quickly becomes evident that there seem to be as many strategies as there are consultants. This document will define and describe commonly used strategies, identify each strategy’s scope (i.e., whether it applies to design, research, or evaluation), suggest situations in which each strategy would be best suited, and identify pros, cons, and caveats to its use.

Usability Body of Knowledge. Articles>User Centered Design>Project Management

A Structured Approach to Selling

High-value goods and services are not impulse purchases. Both the purchaser and vendor may need to invest significant time in the purchasing process. When I first started working for myself, I wasted much time. Now I make the process as efficient as possible, both for myself, and for enquirers.

Unwalla, Mike. IEEE PCS (2008). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration

Success with User-Centered Design Management

With the proliferation of digital products, including computers, desktop and Web-based applications, and mobile and embedded devices, the quality of the user experience (UX) has become one of the key determinants in the success of competing products. Productivity, entertainment, and business-application programs for non-technical users in particular must have 'intuitive' interfaces.

Ashley, Jeremy and Kristin Desmond. uiGarden (2005). Design>User Centered Design>Project Management>User Experience

Successfully Managing Agile Projects in the Waterfall Enterprise  

Agile and waterfall methods are utterly different—from the way projects start to the expected deliverables and release schedules. In a waterfall world, what's an IT enterprise to do? Can agile and waterfall methodologies successfully coexist? The answer is yes, for both the short-term and the long-term. In this presentation, Michele Sliger outlines how to: factor your company's business needs into existing agile processes, streamline requirements and activities and identify specific points where agile and waterfall teams must plan, coordinate, and review progress. Learn how you can make agile processes work in the real-world.

Sliger, Michele. Rally Software Development (2007). Articles>Project Management>Agile

Survey Into Trends in Technical Communication: How Many Technical Writers Should We Have in Our Organisation?

We were asked recently if we knew of any research on 'standard' ratios between developers and technical authors. We decided to carry out some research and this article covers our preliminary findings.

Cherryleaf (2003). Careers>Project Management>Standards>Surveys