Current Situation

An analysis of the Customer Support cases show that approximately a third of the customer problems could have been solved with the help of the manuals.

Because of

• the generally lacking user acceptance of manuals (learning-by-doing is preferred),
• customers calling the Support anyway, and
• the actual cost pressure

it is being considered to work with one Technical Writer in future.

In the meantime, different Software Engineers are doing their best to update the context-sensitive online help for the target user.

The Quality Assurance in turn schedules approx. 15% of the testing effort for the online help in order to find stylistic and terminological inconsistencies. Further 10% are needed for verifying the manuals.

With the help of e-mails being sent between Software Development and Product Management the Technical Writers are trying to determine new features in alpha versions. Together with the background information found in the online help the manuals are being written.

Sales and Customer Support have difficulties to warmly recommend the manuals to the customers, since it is generally known that the quality is lacking. The latter is also expressed on various (in)appropriate occasions.

Employees working on the documentation and online help are frustrated and demotivated because of the grown structure and the quips of their colleagues. Fear of possibly losing the job paralyzes the productivity.

Solution

Cutting the production effort and increasing the quality for the technical documentation.

The company invests in

• buying a new tool that creates the online help from existing manual sources.
• the two Technical Writers, who of course were part of the selection process of the new tool, and organizes an introduction and training for the new tool. During the training the existing manual sources are verified in regards to future single source publishing. Problem areas are identified and appropriate solutions are developed.

The company can increase the customer loyalty.

Future Process

• The production of the online help is now reduced to its generation from the finalized manual sources.
• The input for the technical documentation is now supplied by Software Development.
• The Quality Assurance verifies the manuals with the start of the beta phase.
• The Technical Writers implement required corrections and generate the online help in order to test the context-sensitivity at the end of the beta phase.
• The upcoming version, the release candidate, contains the final version of the manuals in PDF format and the context-sensitive online help.
• The Technical Writers can now, for example, take care of printing the manuals or the localization.
• The Customer Support now replies to customer queries by simply copying the appropriate text from the online help. Of course by including a reference to the online help and the manual.

Employee Motivation

The Software Engineers are relieved because they can now focus on their primary work: programming of the bilingual software. The input for the Technical Writers can now easily be typed down, i.e. without terminology research and efforts to maintain stylistic consistency. No more learning and operation of the help compiler.

Being motivated, the Technical Writers seize the new challenge as an opportunity to finally deliver "proper work”. The trust invested in them, the tool has been acquired also because of their engagement, increases the identification with the company and the motivation to familiarize in the new work environment.

The Quality Assurance is satisfied, because it has finally more time to improve and automate testing routines.

Loc4All

Of course, the all-embracing solution presented here is no "magic bullet", but does show the potential of a single source publishing solution.

Prerequisite for a successful and long lasting solution is the analysis of individual requirements within the company:

• What are the strategic marketing goals?
• What form of organization is being lived?
• What requirements and expectations do the involved employees have?
• Etc., etc.

The right questions. The right answers. The right processes. The right solution.