Documentation Has Value? Prove It.¶
Contributed by Natalie Gardner
Overview¶
The LavaCon presentation Documentation Has Value? Prove It by Joe Gelb and Lawrence Orin, discussed the value technical writers bring to organizations. Using data, the speakers were able to advocate for technical writers and prove that technical writers benefit critical business functions for the companies they work for. A main idea of this presentation is that technical writers help people find answers. Technical writers empower customers through the content they produce by providing them with the information they need to use products safely and efficiently. Well-written audience-focused content increases the likelihood of a positive user experience and the subsequent success of a company’s product. To this end, technical writers influence the success of other teams within a company like project management, marketing, sales, and customer support. In other words, the content produced by technical writers has a measurable impact on the entire lifecycle of a company.
The presentation then discussed three different types of data and how technical writers can use data to improve their content and therefore business outcomes. The three types of data mentioned in the presentation were useless data, scorecard data, and actionable data. Useless data is accurate, but does not provide any real value. Scorecard data compares the variable being measured to the industry standard. This type of data is somewhat helpful, but does not facilitate action. Finally, as the name suggests, actionable data has goals associated with it that lead to action. These goals give a company a sense of direction. Technical writers can analyze actionable data related to their content to determine how to better help people find answers to their questions. For example, they can see how many people are clicking on their content after searching a query. This allows technical writers to determine what people are actually looking for so they can incorporate that information into their content. By analyzing actionable data, technical writers can also ensure they are using their resources effectively to produce content that people want and need which will drive efficiencies for the companies they work for.
Key Takeaways¶
- Technical communicators help people find answers.
- Technical writers have a measurable impact on the entire lifecycle of a company.
- Technical communicators can analyze actionable data to fine tune their content to better serve their audience.
- Technical writers can utilize data to prove their benefit to critical business functions.
Reflection¶
As a Technical Writing and Communication Major at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, this presentation gave me insight into how valuable technical writers are to the organizations they work for. In my major courses I have learned about the critical tasks technical communicators perform. This presentation extended that knowledge from the classroom with concrete data proving how technical communicators improve business functions within organizations. It is very important that customer-facing content is well-written and audience-focused so that the audience can understand and engage with the content to use products safely and efficiently and ultimately have a positive experience. Overall, this presentation reinforced to me that digital content needs to be customized to the audience in a way that is accessible, readable, engaging and easy for them to understand.