Documentation Services
Writing
- Outline
The stages of our documentation process are planning, designing, writing, reviewing, and editing. We deliver the following types of documentation:
- Instructional and reference documentation - online or offline help, usage and installation instructions, cheat sheets, manuals, glossaries, and troubleshooting texts;
- Interface texts – labels, menus, buttons, in-built instructions, and messages;
- Tutorials and training materials – guides and tutorials for self study or materials for in-class training complete with instructional texts, tips, exercises, and exams;
- Demos and presentations – films demonstrating the product interface and usage flow or static presentations with product feature lists and screenshots.
- Skills
Our technical writers have good to excellent understanding of the writing process, excellent English, and good technical aptitude. In terms of experience, we qualify our technical writers as:
- Beginner – people having no or limited (up to 3-4 months) experience on the job. They have at least gone through training for technical writers.
- Intermediate – people with some experience. They have completed at least two projects. Their experience on the job ranges from a few months to 2 years.
- Senior – people with significant experience and knowledge in the field. They have more than 2 years on the job and a number of different writing projects.
- Master – people with proven record of successful writing projects. They have practice of 6 and more years on the job. Their extensive experience and judgment allow them to plan and accomplish goals. They also lead, mentor, and direct the work of others.
Editing and Proofreading
- Outline
- Editing is performed by technical writers with senior and master skills. Editors check texts for:
- Good language - spelling, grammar, style;
- Proper formatting - narrative, bullets, paragraphs, terms, style, white space, and so on;
- Accuracy and order - suitable sequences of instructions in a topic and topics in a chapter, completeness of procedures, presentation of texts and samples accurately without misleading the readers;
- Simplicity - texts explain only the necessary without going into details unless necessary.
- Terminology - texts take into consideration the education and knowledge of readers and introduce new terms appropriately.
We work with native English speakers as proofreaders.
Training
- Outline
- We train people with no or little experience in the field of technical writing and help them acquire basic knowledge and gain some practical skills. Our general introductory course balances theory with practical exercises. The theoretical part gives participants the framework of technical writing, basic concepts, and guidelines. It also points to further resources and materials. The exercises offer participants a chance to practice their skills and receive personal feedback on their work.
- Format
- Know and do workshop: includes theory and practice. Each session ends with the application of acquired skills. The practical exercises can be adjusted to meet specific needs or be drawn from a specific domain.
- Objective
- Each person who completes the introductory course in technical writing learns how to plan, outline, write, and review a help topic, support article, specification document, or another piece of text that meets both the needs and expectations of readers. Participants also learn how to plan and modify an existing help system or plan and develop original system documentation using the appropriate tools. They receive basic theoretical knowledge about the field.
- Target Audience
The course is especially appropriate for beginner Technical Writers, Customer Support Representatives, and Project Managers. Quality assurance staff and developers also find the course useful and beneficial.
Consulting
Our staff can provide the client with consulting services in the following areas:
- Building an in-house documentation process:
- Defining needs,
- Identifying internal processes,
- Preparing polices and procedures,
- Training internal staff in the process.
- Defining a process for selection, evaluation, and deployment of a documentation authoring tool:
- Setting up evaluation steps,
- Defining due dates and responsible people,
- Identifying evaluation criteria and measurement methods,
- Preparing and delivering training,
- Launching pilot deployments,
- Final introduction.
- Hiring technical writing staff:
- Setting up staff skill and experience criteria,
- Giving and evaluating exams
- Conducting interviews,
- Recommending appropriate candidates.