Technical Write

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Why You Should Hire a Technical Writing Consultant

Yes, writing is a skill that can be learned. However, learning is a long process and the success of learning how to write effectively is highly dependent on the length of training and actual writing and the person's interest in writing.  Another truth is that sometimes in an organization, there is scarcity of people who are effective in writing highly technical documents. In cases like these, most managers— and much more managers should— hire technical writing consultant.

 

What is a technical writing consultant? A technical writing consultant is an expert in drafting technical papers such as proposals, reports and other organizational documentations needed for business transactions and operations. While technical writers are very skilled in drafting structures and doing highly technical papers such as research papers, dissertations, thesis and other academic papers, terminal reports, drafting of assessment and evaluation tools, a technical writing consultant does not necessarily need to do the actual writer. They can be considered as business consultants who can pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of the organization based on the documents that have been drafted as tool of the organizations' operations.

 

There are many reasons why individuals and organizations need to hire a professional help of consultants of technical writing. Below are only few of the reasons:

1.      Lack of personal or organizational capacity to perform effective writing for personal or organizational needs.

2.      Lack of experience in drafting and identifying organizational requirements that are needed to be documented in paper.

3.      Lack of time. These writing professionals have honed their skills and abilities to write technical documents within a short period of time.

4.      Uncertainty of appropriate documentation structures and style of writing in documents.

5.      Lack of ability to put ideas into writing.

6.      Lack of ability and knowledge to use the required jargons and language.

7.      To ensure good quality of documentation and specified written requirements.

8.      Lack of particularly experience or knowledge of the industry. Good writers, even those with skills in technical writing, may not be equipped with experience and knowledge on the assigned field or industry.

9.       To save time. Time is a resource that is highly valuable to all organizations. Technical writing, especially for those inexperienced, may take quite a long time.

10.  Hiring a technical writing expert may help the organization to learn how to draft technical reports appropriate for the nature of business or operations of the company.

 

There are many reasons to hire a technical writing consultant. Professionals in the field may be able to provide valuable contribution to the organization and may be able to effectively deliver written requirements and documents necessarily for the growth and efficient operations of the company. Professionals in this field excel in using appropriate jargons and document structures employing their experience and knowledge in the industry and/or field. However, it is important to be wise in hiring such consultant. Look at the track record, field or industry of expertise and the ability to listen and communicate.

About the Author

Nasir Mehmood is a CEO of SEO Services. WebOptimizers.net is a professional seo and web design company that offers affordable custom web site design and development. Services we offer: Seo and link building, corporate web site design, E-commerce web site design, Content Management Software integration into existing web sites, Software Development. We are always there to help you become owner of a great web site for affordable price. You can view our portfolio at Portfolio .

How to Become a Scientist


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Technical Writer

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How much can a technical writer make if he or she is very good at it?

And what areas are the most lucrative? Or what other well paid jobs could a skilled technical writer do?

I know a couple of technical writers. Their earnings are similar to those of teachers in public schools. They make a living, but they're not at the higher end of the middle class. My understanding is that steady work for a company which produces a wide array of products, and therefore needs tech writers all the time, is preferable to the piecework approach where smaller companies hire tech writers for more money--but there are long gaps without work.

The skill set involves more than being able to write clearly and tersely, with no ambiguity. It involves quick comprehension of whatever technology you're writing about, too, otherwise any English major could do it.

I would consider majoring in whatever technology science most interests you, and minoring in English.

technical writer
technical writer
technical writer

Technical Writer

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New Technical Writer: Use the Persona to Create the Most Useful Section of your User Document

OVERVIEW


A good User Document includes sections on how to set up, use, and care for the product. However, to create a great User Document , the technical writer should use the Persona, generated in the analysis of the User/Reader, to create the topics for the most useful section of the User Document. This article describes this procedure.


THE MOST USEFUL SECTION OF A USER DOCUMENT


The most useful section of a User Document is the one that helps the User get what he/she wants/needs done right now!


Writing such a section might seem to be an impossibility. How do you know what the User needs to do now?


The only thing that you, as a writer, can do is to play the odds. That is, determine the topics that have the highest probability of being of interest to your User. And "of interest" means "getting what the User wants done, right now."


We created Persona (an almost-real representation of your product's User) in another article in the "New Technical Writer" series (see the links in the "Resources" or "Author Information" section of this article). We can use the Persona to create a topic list for this section.


USING YOUR PERSONA


This step in using your Persona is missed by almost all User Documents that I have seen. Yet this step will result in a User Document that is most satisfying to your Reader. Here it is:


Imagine your Persona using your product. Now, what are the main things that your Persona will want to do with your product.


As an example we will use a photo editing program (Acme FotoPhixer, a hypothetical product from a hypothetical company) that comes bundled with a point and shoot digital camera. Our Persona is a typical user of such a camera.


Ask: What does that Persona want to do with Acme FotoPhixer?


The short answer is that they want to improve their photos. HOW can they improve their photos with Acme FotoPhixer? In OUR words (not the words of the User) we could tell them how to:


* Rotate


* Crop


* Red-eye removal


* Adjust brightness & contrast


* Removing unwanted items from the photo


* Focus/Blur


* Save


* Print


* Share


These names are what we, the photography experts might use. However, "crop" may be meaningless to our Persona. In fact, we could move crop into "Removing unwanted items from the photo."


The "Focus/Blur" topic is interesting. If a photo is out of focus or blurred, there is really nothing that our software can do to improve it. However our Reader does not know this, but still wants to do it. We should include topic with this text: "It is impossible to fix the focus or remove blurring in a photograph. You might be able to improve this using the [Sharpen Effect] tool in FotoPhixer." (The [] specifies a reference to the topic in the User Document.)


DON'T HIDE THIS SECTION


If your Reader cannot quickly find what he/she wants to do in your User Document, then the document has failed. Since we created this section to answer the User's pressing needs for the product, then we must make this section very accessible to the User -- they have to be able to find it easily.


"Fixing (Improving) Your Picture" is a PERFECT, User-oriented title. That is the correct title for this section. Don't bury this gold under titles such as: "Tutorial" or "Use FotoPhixer's Tools." These titles do not suggest answers to the User's questions.


You should make this section very easy to find in the User Document. It's the key section of the User Document. It has the information that most Readers want, most of the time (by your analysis). Place it prominently in the User Document.


SATISFYING THE READER IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK


Producing this section is easier than you think.


First, imagine that you were NOT going to include this section. Your User Document would still have to cover all of the features, tools, and user interactions for the product. You need to do that to satisfy your boss. It's also logical. If a feature is not described, then why is it in the product?


Thus you have created a topic list for a "classical" User Document.


Now we create our User-oriented section, "Fixing Your Picture." Here are the steps:


1. List each of the topics for fixing a picture, using titles that the Reader will understand.


2. Provide a brief overview, perhaps with a picture showing before and after the use of this fixing method.


3. Then list the steps for that topic, and provide links to the documentation for the relevant tools for each step


Done!


Actually, I would recommend using what I call a "Visual Index," which is described in the links in the "Resources" or "Author Information" section of this article.


Within Document Re-usability


We could call this organization method "within document re-usability." Here the writing for a topic exists as an item in the "reference" section of the User Document. By referring to that item when it is needed for performing a User-oriented task, we make the text do double duty. This results in reusability within the document.


HOW TO GET THE TIME TO WRITE THIS SECTION


Put less detailed effort into the documentation for the product's features that will be rarely used. For example, FotoPhixer includes tools to make the image look like it's made of stone, or produce 3D effects, etc. These are rarely used, and have a similar set of controls. Instead of detailing the use of each of these rarely used features, write a global usage, describe the controls, encourage the User to experiment, and remind them of the un-do and cancel capabilities.


You can create the "most useful" section with the time you save by not thoroughly documenting these rarely-used items.


THE BOTTOM LINE


You can make your User Document much more effective if you think about your User/Reader and what he/she wants to do with the product. Use this information to create an easy to find section in your User Document that meets your Reader's needs.

About the Author

Barry Millman, Ph.D., has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (1966, Carnegie Institute of Technology) and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Psychology (Human Information Processing, University of Calgary). He has been a consultant for over 25 years, an instructor, course developer, and award-winning speaker. For the past seven years he has been researching and creating resources to help organizations create great User Documents.

Visit: http://www.greatuserdocs.com/ for resources to help you create the User Documents that your Product needs and your Users deserve.

Visit http://www.greatuserdocs.com/ReadingRoom.htm for more articles like this one.

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