the agile technical writer: fact or fiction?
Post on 28-Jan-2015
116 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
The ‘Agile’ Technical Writer: Fact or Fiction?
Introduction to agile for documentation
MDDE 622 AssignmentCollaborative Technical Writing PracticesDana WestPublication date: November 23, 2012 (v1)
The Agile manifesto
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Self-directed teams
Image: Bee Hive by Rebecca Leaman http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjleaman/2364448242/ CC BY-NC 2.0
Focus on stable code
Image: Meditation by Mitchell Joyce http://www.flickr.com/photos/hckyso/3870006964/ CC BY-NC 2.0
Communication, collaboration
Image: “I Scrum Daily” t-shirt by AleNunez http://www.flickr.com/photos/alenunez/444510317/ CC BY-NC 2.0
Change is a constant
Image: Tai chi in the morning - 7 by psit http://www.flickr.com/photos/psit/5253339905/ CC BY-NC 2.0
Agile in 30 seconds
Continuous stakeholder feedback
To deliver high quality code – and documentation ‘project’ chunkedinto use cases, stories and user roles through series of time-boxed sprints
Image: Stopwatch by William Warby http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/3296379139/ CC BY-NC 2.0
Do I need to know this stuff?
LEAN Agile Iterative
SCRUM
Image: Dolls in the Rain by Joe Lodge http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe57spike/5690570945/ CC BY-NC 2.0
What does this have to do with me?
IterationsUser scenarios
Scrums
Working code
User roles
Sprints
Image: BBC Micro User Guide by Jem Stone http://www.flickr.com/photos/jemstone/2348750617/ CC BY-NC 2.0
Quality is always part of the job
Ensure usefulness not conformance
Image: thumbs up by Daniel Zimmel http://www.flickr.com/photos/devnull/359791913/ CC BY-SA 2.0
The agile advantage
User stories > make documentation more task-oriented and organized
Stakeholder feedback > make documentation more useful and effective
Shorter cycles> Focus on what needs to be done - priorities
Image: Luke Skywalker by Duncan Cumming http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncan/54069883/ CC BY-NC 2.0
It’s all about transparency
Image: curtains by Julie Manzerova http://www.flickr.com/photos/julia_manzerova/4658243305/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Tips?
#1 – Take initiative
# 2 - Increase your product knowledge and add value, become a know-it-all
# 3- Advocate for the user – and the team
#1 – Take initiative
Increase your visibility and scrutiny Attend status/sprint meetings Take part in sprint planning
Ask about documentation impact Spell out ‘done’
What are your ‘done’ criteria?
#2 – Become a know-it-all
Learn and use the product/software I, user
Extend your writing expertise to add value
I, educator Keep them all honest
I, terminologist
#3 – Advocate for user and team
Apply timely customer input Track improvement
Help the team Hold workshops on task-oriented topic
writing, review process, guidelines and standards for writing, style guides and terminology
Recap …
Collaboration rules
It’s not about what the software does but what the user does
Be a minimalist – give them what they need
YOU add the clarityImage: Reminder 2 by bibliojojo http://www.flickr.com/photos/68509201@N08/6225701939/ CC BY-NC 2.0
Agile Alliance. The Agile manifesto (2001). Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/the-agile-manifesto/.
Agile software development. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2012 from the Agile software development Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.
TAgile wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2012 from the Agile Wiki: http://agile-wiki.wikispaces.com/Agile+WikiLicense: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.
References
top related