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 User Guides and Help Systems
After thirteen years experience writing winning sales proposals for technology projects, I developed the ability to construct technical documentation that was concise and easy to understand. This skill proved invaluable when in the late 90s I assumed responsibility for technical publications at a Silicon Valley software startup. Though I had the basic skills to write adequately, I lacked specific knowledge about what makes a user guide useful, and what makes a software help system helpful. To fill this gap in my knowledge I turned to resources from the company with far more experience in the field than any other: Microsoft Corporation. The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications became my writing bible, and I referred to it religiously. I developed my own technical publications style guide to ensure consistency across publications, and I tested my publications for clarity by watching others attempt to learn from them. Likewise, I delved deeply into the topic of writing effective help systems, and achieved mastery of Microsoft HTML Help and RoboHelp help authoring systems.
Learning Systems
My experience developing user guides and help systems proved beneficial when I moved to KLA-Tencor to deploy a centralized software-based project management tool to 3,000+ very busy engineers.
The company was deploying Microsoft Project Server in part to give the executive team near real-time access to information about the progress of product development programs. Most program managers saw this initiative as a time-wasting, unnecessary exercise that would result in reduced productivity, greater bureaucracy, excessive micro management by the executive team, and malcontent among the engineers who would have to to set aside time for data entry on a near daily basis. To complicate matters, tool adoption was not mandatory, though the executive team strongly encouraged program managers and their engineers to use it. It was my job to evangelize the virtues of the tool and to make adoption fast and simple; to mitigate every possible excuse that program managers might use to delay or avoid using the tool. Developing fast and effective learning systems proved crucial to my success.
Our initial strategy to teach tool usage was to conduct classroom training in the KLA-Tencor Corporate Learning Center. We quickly realized that engineers were slow to register for classroom training because it meant taking a substantial block of time away from their desks and thus away from their work. The solution was to develop computer-based training (CBT) modules that used graphics, the written word, and an audio track (with yours truly as the narrator) to empower people to learn right from their desks during small blocks of time. An online test taken after completing the CBTs was used to validating learning, and test takers needed to achieve a minimum score to become certified to use the tool. The computer based training initiative was very successful, and the time I spent developing content for it greatly furthered my abilities as an effective technical communicator.
Technical publications and learning systems roles I’m well qualified to perform:
- User guide development
- Help system development
- Classroom materials development
- Computer-based training development
I’m available to perform these services on a contractual basis. Contact me for more information, or to arrange an interview.
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