Documentation Strategy - Plan Of Action
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Documentation Strategy - Plan Of Action
- 1. Documentation Implementation Plan Frank Caron IT-Product Department September 22, 2010 Experts in Rewards and Recognition
- 2. State Of The Union
- 3. We need help documentation. What do we start writing first?
- 4. Past Failure, Future Current Success
- 5. • Content is king, but systems are the kingdom. And without his kingdom... What I’ve Learned • Great content goes to waste in a bad system. • Writing great content is easy. Building a great system is not. • If implemented correctly from the beginning, a good help platform is a simultaneous sales feature and money-saver. • Some (accurate) doc is better than no (inaccurate) doc.
- 6. • Scalable • Template-driven • Searchable • Release dependent • Extensible • Dynamic • Track-able • Concise • Clear • Consistent What A Good Doc Platform Should Be The System The Content • Release independent
- 7. Systems: What’s Out There Now?
- 8. Print Web New Media - PDFs - Handbooks - Indexed K-base - Rich PDFs - K-base/PDFs - Interactive / Videos
- 9. So how do we apply all this to ILR? (Cheaply and quickly) Dynamic Track-able
- 10. Help Central A fully-integrated, Wiki-based solution
- 11. Phase One
- 15. View By Task, By Section, Search Results, etc. Basic And Advanced Search Help Content
- 17. Breadcrumbs Contextual Quick Links PDF Link User Feedback Tags
- 18. A Working Example Of Help Central wiki.iloverewards.com/display/FTZ/HTML+test
- 19. Who Will Use Help Central * Subject to change as roles evolve Role Permissions Content External Admin Read CAP/MP Doc (Program-specific) External Member Read MP Doc (Program-specific) Internal Admin Read, Write (Limited), Move (Limited), Delete (Limited) Core Doc Cap/MP Doc (All Programs) Internal Wiki Internal Team Member Read, Write (Limited) Core Doc Cap/MP Doc (All Programs) Internal Wiki Master Read, Write, Move, Delete All
- 20. help.iloverewards.com [program_name].iloverewards.com/help Help Article DB (Knowledgebase) core.iloverewards.com admin.iloverewards.com INTERNAL EXTERNALsection = “[program_name]” section =“core”, “admin”, “internal” How Will We Author Help Central
- 21. Help Article DB (Knowledgebase) Program: All Component: CAP Module: Administration Sub-Module: Adding Members Title: Adding Members To A Program Task: How do I add members? Tags: CAP, Management, Member, Program, Add, etc. ... wiki.iloverewards.com core.iloverewards.com/help pointaholics.iloverewards.com/help ... [program1].iloverewards.com/help [program2].iloverewards.com/help [program3].iloverewards.com/help [program4].iloverewards.com/help ... INTERNAL EXTERNAL How Will We Author Help Central
- 22. Confluence program1.ilr.com Confluence API References: http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONFDEV/Remote+API+Specification http://lab.kapit.fr/display/cci/Content+Internationalizer http://blogs.atlassian.com/news/2007/12/using_a_wiki_fo.html http://www.k15t.com/display/web/Scroll+Office INTERNALEXTERNAL wiki.ilr.com program2.ilr.com Native core.ilr.comhelp.ilr.com How Will We Implement Help Central
- 23. Phase Two
- 26. Explicit Context Close Help Tray Full Wiki Link Contextual Articles
- 28. Component Subcomponents Article Context Sensitivity Embedded Content Frame in each page gives access to context-sensitive help directly. Article Fields Content Rich Media (Embed Code) Article Body Rich Text with embedded images, a separate and distinguished PDF Link, and dynamically-embedded Objects (Flash, Silverlight, etc.) Article Tracking User-by-User tracking (last X articles accessed, average session length, etc.) Article Updating Integrated Reporting - Single Sign On Wiki Account Creation For Existing/New Members - View/Export Reports Article Feedback Submit A Question Features Of Help Central
- 29. Help Article DB (Knowledgebase) Program: All Programs Component: CAP Module: Administration Sub-Module: Adding Members Title: Adding Members To A Program Task: How do I add members? Tags: CAP, Management, Member, Program, Add, etc. ... help.iloverewards.com [program1].iloverewards.com/help INTERNAL EXTERNAL How Will We Author Help Central
- 30. Help Article DB (Knowledgebase) Program: ILR Internal Component: CAP Module: Administration Sub-Module: Adding Members Title: Adding Members To A Program Task: How do I add members? Tags: CAP, Management, Member, Program, Add, etc. ... help.iloverewards.com [program1].iloverewards.com/help INTERNAL EXTERNAL Program: [Program1] Component: CAP Module: Administration Sub-Module: Adding Members Title: Adding Members To A Program Task: How do I add members? Tags: CAP, Management, Member, Program, Add, etc. ... How Will We Author Help Central
- 31. Confluence program1.ilr.com Confluence API INTERNALEXTERNAL wiki.ilr.com program2.ilr.com Native core.ilr.comhelp.ilr.com How Will We Implement Help Central Reporting/Feedback References: http://lab.kapit.fr/display/cci/Content+Internationalizer Global
- 33. Article Contributions Process Details IT-Product Regular Updates The Technical Writer will continuously add articles to the knowledgebase as new features are added and old features change. Member Experience / Client Success Suggestions Suggestions from regular reviews conducted between Technical Writer and ME/CS reps will be turned into articles by TW ME / CS Submissions Direct article submissions by ME / CS members wherever desired.
- 34. Reviews Process Details Member Experience Monthly Review Evaluate ME issues that arose from members during the past month to evaluate potential areas for weakness in the MP documentation Client Success Monthly Review Evaluate CS issues that arose from admins during the past month to evaluate potential areas for weakness in the CAP documentation CORE Biannual Review Evaluate internal PS issues that arose from new hires learning from the CORE help to evaluate potential areas for weakness in the CORE documentation Release Documentation Monthly Updates Monthly, regular doc refreshes to update articles that are affected by new releases and add new articles where necessary Article Tracking Review Quarterly Review of tracking statistics fed in through the help platform to identify success/failure of articles and adjust accordingly. Documentation Housekeeping Quarterly/Yearly Documentation housekeeping (updating old articles, disabling irrelevant/deprecated articles, etc.) On-Demand Housekeeping Day-To-Day Documentation housekeeping (checking links/PDFs for breakage, checking spelling, fixing typos, etc.)
- 35. Supporting Docs Department Supporting Docs Client Success Quick Start Guide Member Experience Member Portal Help Manual (Hardcopy) ... ...
- 36. Challenges
- 37. Technical • How can we adapt Confluence to meet these requirements? And if we can’t, can we build our own system? • Will the current install handle the potential user load? Do we have the 2000+ user license currently? • Is it more cost- and time-effective to build our own solution? • How will translations be integrated into the Wiki solution?
- 38. • With a customized program comes custom help. How do we manage the documentation creation pipeline? Pipeline • How do we handle help translation? How do we prioritize? How do we implement? • How do we work the building of the system into the existing IT pipeline? What is the gap between Phase One and Phase Two?
- 39. Philosophical • How do we get other departments to more regularly use the new tools (ex., Wiki)? • How do we envision online help as a part of the ILR experience?
- 40. Timeline
- 41. A Rough Roadmap Solidify Roadmap (9/30/2010) Complete System, Phase One (?) Complete Content, Phase One (?) Iterate Content, Phase Two (?) Iterate System, Phase Two (?) Begin Formal Doc Processes (2010?) Today
Editor's Notes
- Okay everyone. Hi. For those that don’t remember my name, I’m Frank, the new technical writer.You probably won’t forget me after this presentation (in a bad way).At least I can say I was the longest-standing tech writer in company history.
- Anyway, so what am I talking about today?Doc. That’s my passion. My muse. My bitch.Let’s start the conversation by talking about where we’re at now in terms of doc.
- Clear from the fact that you hired me and from the platform’s existing help is the reality that ILR needs help documentation. Badly.Given the multi-faceted nature of the app, there’s a ton of documentation to write that services different needs.We need doc for… Member Portal Help CAP Help CORE Help Internal Onboarding
- Everything you’ll hear and see in this presentation is based on my past experience: lessons learned, training sessions, etc. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of doc. I’ve lived doc for years now. I know it. I love it.I’ve seen it blow up in my face.So the proposed plan I’m giving you is based on past failure for current success.
- A good help platform is more than just something that well save us time and money: it’s a sales feature. If we do it right, we can turn what’s really saving us money in CS/ME calls and time into a value-add feature that’s earning us more business while costing us less.
- System and ContentRelease dependent: system has to be treated like a part of the web app and not a stand-alone side projectRelease independent: content on LIVE SERVER must be editable and updatable at a moment’s notice
- Ultimately, my focus comes down to the system. We need to build the foundation before we fill the house with furniture. A couch in the rain ain’t much good. So let’s start by looking at what’s out there now.
- In general, there are three different systemic approaches to documentation: Print, Web, New Media
- The real question about “Web” implementation is how exactly do we intend to either develop or integrate a system in order to meet the standards of what a good doc platform should be. Do we roll a simple wiki somewhere on the site? Do we just build our own from scratch?
- Introducing “help.iloverewards.com”, our (future) help portal.What is it?Well, in a terrible sentence, “a quasi-proprietary, fully-integrated, Wiki-esque solution”
- Phase OnePhase One is the initial roll-out plan for both the system and the content. We’ll push the system, and we’ll push some content with it so we can announce it proper. If I had my way, we’d get this out in the December release (who am I, BD now?)
- BOOM. Huge difference eh? Drastic changes! Developers, start your engines! QA, start up JIRA and bug “Program not done.”As far as impact on existing UI goes, I’m asking for one new UI element added to all of our platforms: a easily-differentiated “Help” button near the divide between page header and page content. For the sake of simplicity, I did something simple to start. Whatever the design team wants (Bobby) is fine, but the goal here is to differentiate help from the prexisting nav. The reason for that will become evident in Phase Two.
- For Phase One, clicking “Help”
- For Phase One, clicking “Help”
- For Phase One, clicking “Help”
- For Phase One, clicking “Help”
- For Phase One, clicking “Help”
- Let’s take a look at an example
- Internal Admins and Members will have limited “write”, meaning they can write articles but only into their specific sections.Internal Admin will have limited move and delete, meaning they can move and delete articles only in their specific sections.
- Single-source, Multi-program
- With Phase One design, we’ll roll out two things: The System The first batch of contentOnce phase one is out, I will be able to continue to add content.In phase one, we will roll out one set of content for all installations. Yes this is less-than-ideal given how customized some of the branded sites are. But it’s a starting point, and as I’ve learned, some doc is better than none. Many even somewhat-savvy users will be able to make due. That said, the differentiation of “program” for an article will be irrelevant for phase one content because each article will apply to every program to start.
- Confluence API: SOAP/XML-RPC
- So what’s the big difference when it comes to the front end?
- Sliding div
- So what’s the big difference when it comes to the front end?
- So what’s the big difference when it comes to the front end?http://wiki.iloverewards.com/display/FTZ/HTML+test
- With Phase 2, we’ll have the same ability to assign one article to multiple programs. It may not get used much, but it’s a nice feature to have. Of particular note, we may choose to limit C clients to the “prefab” help that isn’t tailored specifically to their program. Since their program isn’t likely to be heavily customized, we will still see the general improvement from the base help.However, where Phase 2 comes into its own is with the differentiation of content.
- Phase 2 will introduce the concept of having multiple versions of the same article. These will be treated as independent entities, but resources (new media objects, etc.) can be shared between the two.
- Confluence API: SOAP/XML-RPCKap Lab International Component
- This solution is based on all my experience, and it summates the lessons learned at organizations of different sizes with complex (and numerous) applications.However, there are some challenges.
- Pluses to using Confluence:Plugins for automated PDF creation, translations, etc.Scales wellNegatives:- LAF and UX woes could render the entire
- This solution is based on all my experience, and it summates the lessons learned at organizations of different sizes with complex (and numerous) applications.However, there are some challenges.