Shanghai Tech Writer

Recently, I started working on a 1.0 documentation project. So what’s a 1.0 documentation project? Basically, it’s writing documentation for a brand new product, version 1.0! Both the product as well as documentation are created from scratch.

There are many challenges to working on a 1.0 project, both from the software as well as documentation perspective. Some of these challenges include:

• Nobody has used the product before, so there’s no user feedback to work off of.
• The product/project started based on research, so there’s always the possibility of the product being a huge success or a total flop.
• The user-interface as well as the product’s functionalities and features are constantly being changed, so it’s not always clear what the final product will look like exactly.
• It’s not easy keeping up with project deadline/schedules of a new product.

There are many risks and challenges to working on a 1.0 project. These risks and challenges present an even greater challenge for technical writers because documentation is written during the software development phase. That means, as developers are writing the programming code for the new product, technical writers are working on the documentation. The reason is because alpha and beta release follow development phase so most of the documentation should be completed by alpha or beta. More on the software development process in the future.

In any case, there are many changes to a 1.0 product during the development phase, even later during the alpha and beta phase. Technical writers need to stay on top of all the changes to ensure that these changes are reflected in documentation. That means, topics may be written and rewritten many many times.

Here are some tips and suggestions to working on a new documentation project.

1. Create a documentation plan.
2. Create a documentation project schedule.
3. Sit near the subject matter experts (SMEs), also known as the content experts.
4. Attend all project meetings.
5. Request to be included in all the project-related emails.
6. Suggest that the team keeps a weekly status report of everyone’s progress.
7. Report software bugs immediately.
8. Provide usability feedback from a new user perspective.
9. Research and gather all resources and documentation of similar software / product.
10. Keep track of all the bumps and hiccups during the entire development for end-of-project debriefing, also known as the “lesson learned” session.

And lastly, make an effort to build good team rapport. You’ll be working with them for the next couple of weeks to months so start off on the right foot! Do something fun as a team, have group lunch, bring snacks and baked goodies to bribe share with the SMEs, play a game of ping pong, etc . . .

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