© 2012, cognizant technology solutions monalisa sen stc india chapter, 2012 social...
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© 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions
Monalisa SenSTC India Chapter, 2012
Social Documentation-The Era of Interaction
Objectives
2
Understand the features of social documentation
Explore the reasons for increased popularity of social documentation
Explore a case study
Understand the types of social documentation
Understand the role of a technical writer in social documentation
Identify the limitations of social documentation
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What is Social Documentation?
• Based on Web 2.0 approaches to capture user-generated content
• Uses social networking sites, social media sites and wiki-based sites
• Identifies and offers real-time solutions to queries of the audience
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Why Social Documentation?
• Social documentation uses cumulative knowledge to fill information gaps and address user-specific issues
• Social documentation leads to human interaction and collaboration
• Content is user-centric since it is created and owned by users
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Types of Social Documentation
The recent trend is to merge social media, social networking, and Web 2.0 into a general category called the ‘Social Web’.
Enables users to edit pages and leave
comments
Encourages interaction between audience and
author, offering an opportunity to include the
user’s perspective
Enables creation of a knowledge
community through real-time discussions
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Role of a Technical Writer
• Moderator: Being a language expert, responsible for monitoring information being shared, conducting peer review and acting as a community manager
• Content Curator: Being a subject matter expert wearing the user’s shoes, responsible for contextualization and organization of information
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Case Study• Cognizant’s proprietary project management and delivery
engagement application used for tracking projects• A project is considered a community• Interactive Help enables optimization of the tool’s usage
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2010Requirement:Align the Help with features of social media/networking to provide easy access to informationSolution:• How do I…section based on web site Help like Gmail with pages like “What
would you like to do” • First-time User? section designed to provide a high-level understanding of
the application and assistance to the first-time users • What’s New? section designed for quick access to the latest updates and
features in the application, inspired by web sites like Gmail• Flow Diagrams linked to the relevant tasks, inspired by visual Wiki• Post your Queries section provided a link to the communities where the
user can post the queries
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Snapshots
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2011-12Requirement:Apps-based Help, improving social interactivity and providing a Help system for individual applicationsSolution:After research across various web sites such as Amazon, Gmail, Facebook, Google Apps store and other web-based services, the upcoming trends and practices were identified and are being implemented in the form of a Help Centre • Video-based Assistance: app-specific interactive training videos and
Online Help • Minimalizing Content on the Help: screenshot-intensive and task-oriented
guidance handbook• Getting Started: for first-time users• FAQ• Link to Community Forum: within the Help to raise a query• Rating: enable users to rate comments
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Snapshots
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Limitations of Social Documentation
• Maintaining accuracy• Formatting content and avoiding repetition• Implementing standardization and consistency• Motivating contribution from users• Archiving
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Conclusion
• Transition from a didactic to a conversational tone• Shift from information to interaction• Content is increasingly user-driven• Use of social media to get closer to the users• Less writing and more curating
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Questions
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