2010: Accolades, interactive docs & a death threat

As the dawn of 2010 disappears behind the late December dusk, I feel a retrospective look at what has come to pass is required. Call it being lazy if you will, although personally I’d disagree. It’s definitely not that I can’t think of anything else to blog about (you should see my “To blog about” list) it genuinely is that a lot has happened this year, including:

• Completing two major documentation projects to great acclaim.
• Increased exposure in the technical communication industry, particularly in Adobe circles.
• Blogging related accolades.

2010 started with delivery of a large rewrite of one of the company’s flagship product suites. The year long project involved a bottom up, top down and side to side revisiting of what we provided. As well as the design and look and feel, we focused on ensuring the deliverables had the correct generic information for the entire user base, together with specific use case examples. This was vital for an application that crosses different job functions.

For the first time we used simulations inside the help file to add some interaction and support the existing text. Critically we chose not to replace the help text with simulations, but use them only where they would add value (e.g. areas where the applications interface was a little ambiguous). The toil was well worthwhile as user feedback was very encouraging. Even one user known for his negativity sang our praises!

The results and feedback from this project were to figure several times throughout the year, largely as a result of my use of social media. This blog had been active since early 2009 and had built up a select subscriber base without reaching a massive audience. All of that was changed once I embraced sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook more strategically. In fact my online presence delivered many opportunities to both me and my company as the year wore on. A reason why all Technical Writers should start using (at least) Twitter.

First up came an offer from Adobe to produce a Use Case Study with their Marketing Department. As part of the documentation rewrite project we had implemented, we embraced the integration between the products in the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2. We’d been Adobe RoboHelp users for a while and had used Adobe FrameMaker on occasions for specific deliverables, but had not used Adobe Captivate. The level of integration between the three applications, and the generous upgrade options, made the purchase of several suite licenses a no brainer. Additionally we had successfully implemented the Adobe RoboHelp Server 8 feedback analytics application, and were starting to reap the benefits of the statistics it provided. The experience of producing the use case study was an interesting one, not least because of the need to moderate some of the claims made in the initial copy! With the Marketing Department producing the copy following an initial conference call, the style of writing was very different to that used to write software help files. Still it was a worthwhile exercise which brought the company some free marketing.

Around the same time I started getting noticed inside the technical communications industry. I maintained an online presence with my peers and kept in touch with industry trends. I don’t spend much time on online, preferring to dip in and out when I have a few seconds. The TweetDeck Twitter client is an excellent way of allowing me to do this whilst focusing on keywords and users. Add to that, 15 minutes at home reviewing LinkedIn groups and my Facebook wall and that’s it. It need not take a lot of effort to do likewise. Invitations followed to write guest posts on various blogs. Wordtree Consulting, Concise Documentation and DMN Communications all saw the fruits of my craft. Alongside these brushes with minor celebrity I had three articles published in Communicator, the journal of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators journal (ISTC).

In September I was invited to deliver a talk at the Technical Communications UK Conference in Oxford. Another opportunity that came my way via Adobe, this was a chance to tell the faithful about our use of the Technical Communication Suite 2 and RoboHelp Server 8. The three day conference was well organized, full of interesting / varied speakers and excellent value for money. It was also a great opportunity to network amongst fellow technical communicators, put faces to names and meet virtual friends in the flesh. I’d highly recommend any technical communicator to attend.

As the year came to a close, yet another big documentation project was delivered. The success of the last big project raised the bar to what was an acceptable deliverable. Plain text and occasional screen grabs were complimented with yet more simulations to support the text. We also threw in some example use case files that can be downloaded and imported into the application. Now you had a level of user assistance never seen before in our documentation. This brought the Technical Documentation team some welcome attention from other departments. It may not be rocket science to anyone reading this, but people started asking what we could do for them. Where do I start? I have a long list of things to get stuck into in 2011.

Away from the day job I managed to fit in a bit of contract work. Not much, but enough to fill in the odd few hours! Mostly this fell into my lap through my industry contacts. I’m not looking to move from my job but it helps to keep the iron in the fire in case circumstances change. The RoboColum(n) has gone from strength to strength with a loyal following and more regular interaction with subscribers. In the summer it was given the accolade by Mindtouch of being amongst the 25 most influencing technical communication blogs. Although you can pick through the metrics used, it was a major honor, especially as there were only 5 bloggers in the 25 from the UK. My aim now is to better my 15th position and reach the top ten in 2011. I’ve even found time to once again join the beta test team for Adobe RoboHelp 9 and Adobe Technical Communication Suite 3. However don’t ask me about a release date as a) I honestly don’t know b) can’t tell you even if I did c) would have to kill you if I digressed .

So 2010 ends and 2011 starts. As our Managing Director told his top Salesman last week, “You may well be top dog this year but come January 1st you are back equal with the others.” I am truly grateful for all the opportunities and success that has come my way in 2010, but I am not complacent to what still needs to be achieved. There is a long way to go, but this is a sound platform with which to greet the New Year.

It has been a lot of fun and I hope you stick around for the ride. May I wish all my readers a very peaceful and joyous 2011.