Successful Documentation Projects Part 2 of 3 Specifying

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Successful Documentation Projects: Part 2 of 3 - Specifying


Introduction


Managing a documentation project involves understanding your audience, their goals, how the product assists them, and what they need in terms of help. After this groundwork, it’s time to clearly outline your intentions.

Note: This is the second article in a series of three about key elements in creating effective user documentation. Check out the other parts at [Part 1](http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess1.htm) and [Part 3](http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess3.htm).

Define Your Goals


Your goal should focus on creating documentation that meets the audience's needs. Break this down into specific sub-goals, which can include:

- Ease of use
- Accessibility
- Helpfulness
- Accuracy
- Relevance
- Comprehensiveness
- Adherence to style guidelines
- Correct spelling and punctuation

These goals will guide both your internal assessments and user research evaluations.

Develop Concept Specifications


Start by drafting high-level concept specifications as overviews of what you plan to produce. For example, the online help concept might involve a Table of Contents, an Index, and a Search function. Concept specs can include:

- Components of the documentation suite (online help, manuals, tutorials)
- Types of information (minimalism practices)
- Functionality and user interface design
- Delivery method and update process
- Languages available

Design Potential Implementations


With your concepts in mind, explore different implementations. These prototypes might be paper-based and should consider:

- Underlying technologies
- Creation tools
- Overall look and feel

Stay informed on current trends and research by exploring resources like list servers, conferences, books, and industry publications.

Conduct Usability Testing


Prototype your designs for stakeholders and sample audiences. This helps identify the best features and prioritize them. Through iterative testing, refine your designs until you select options that fulfill user requirements.

Further Reading: Check out these resources for additional research methods:
- Managing Your Documentation Projects by Hackos
- User and Task Analysis for Interface Design by Hackos & Redish
- Designing Qualitative Research by Marshall & Rossman

Draft Requirements Specifications


Detail exactly what your final documentation product should be, building on your concept specs. These should cover components, content, functionality, delivery, and language requirements.

Estimate Project Duration and Resources


After finalizing requirements, estimate the project timeline and resource needs. Use past projects for reference or the following steps for new projects:

1. List and quantify tasks.
2. List and quantify necessary concepts.
3. Choose representative tasks and concepts to trial.
4. Track time spent and identify unexpected topics.
5. Calculate average time per page.
6. Apply averages to the entire project, accounting for potential delays and revisions.
7. Consider additional factors like training, meetings, and production timelines.

Create a project schedule with tools like Microsoft Project, including milestones such as:

- Prototype Testing Complete
- Design Specs Written
- Drafts Completed and Localized
- Final Documentation Ready
- Project Evaluation

Write Work Practices and Design Specs


Even in small teams, maintaining work practices and design specs is crucial. Work practices cover routine processes, while design specs document specific project plans.

For more on writing user documentation, stay tuned for Part 3.

For the previous and next articles in this series, visit [Part 1](http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess1.htm) and [Part 3](http://www.divinewrite.com/docoprocess3.htm).

You can find the original non-AI version of this article here: Successful Documentation Projects Part 2 of 3 Specifying .

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