Anja Kellermann, Kelly White (Central User Assistance...

Taking technical writing to the next level at SAP

Anja Kellermann, Kelly White (Central User Assistance Unit, SAP)

September 30, 2015 Public

© 2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 2 Public

Introductions

Kelly White

• 12 years experience in technical communications at SAP

• 6 years management experience leading technical

communication teams across Europe

• European User Assistance Innovation lead and co-lead

for User Assistance change management program

across SAP

Anja Kellermann

• 18 years experience in technical communications at SAP

• 11 years management experience leading technical

communication teams across Europe

• Lead for User Assistance Communications and

Enablement across SAP and co-lead for User Assistance

change management program across SAP


Agenda

Our challenges

The world is changing, and so is SAP

Software users are changing, and so are their expectations

Our vision

Our user assistance vision

Examples of our new user assistance

Our approach

Managing the change

Our key findings

How our tasks/skills as technical communicators change

What this means for training and recruiting

Our challenges


Source: SAP Corporate Fact Sheet 1/2015

THE cloud

company

powered by

SAP HANA

Fastest-

growing

database

vendor

Fastest-

growing

company

at scale

in the cloud

Market leader

for mobile apps

for business

Market leader

in products

for business

analysis

SAP HANA

is the market

leading platform

for real-time

computing

SAP: World’s largest provider of enterprise application software

For the world 74%

of the world’s transaction

revenue touches an

SAP system

For business

98% SAP customers represent 98%

of the top 100 most valued

brands in the world

For you

97% Mobile solutions from SAP reach

97% of the world’s mobile

subscribers via text messaging


295 Thousand Customers

15 Thousand Software Developers

191 Countries Where SAP operates

311 Million Words translated 2014

75 Thousand

Employees

7 Hundred Information Developers

One Hundred Translators

40+ Languages Translation

6.7 Million

Users

Setting the context: Some more SAP facts and figures


The world is changing…

Cloud 36% of all data will be stored in the cloud by 2016

Mobile 90% of the world’s population over 6 years old will have a mobile device by 2020

Social 75% of customers rely on social media to influence their purchasing decisions

Big Data 44T gigabytes of data generated by 2020

Millennials 75% of the global workforce will be millennials by 2030


… and so is SAP

We are adapting our strategy, focusing on the cloud, digital economy, Internet of Things, cyber security, big data,

and continuous delivery

We help accelerate business innovation through radical simplification • Help the world run better and improve people’s lives

• Help our customers run at their best

• Help master complexity so that our customers can run at their best


Our users are changing…

• Software is intuitive and easy to use

• Software has an appealing user interface

• Apps are tailored to their specific needs

• There’s no real learning curve when starting to use an app

• The user experience of a business app is comparable to that of a consumer app

• Apps run on all devices – desktop, phone, and tablet

They now expect that:

Our vision


User assistance vision

Our user assistance is a seamless part of the attractive, simple, and enjoyable experience of using

SAP software.

We assist you, before you even know you need help

SAP is the thought leader in providing people with the knowledge they need to deploy and use software

successfully.


Who are our users?

Personas are archetypes

designed to identify users’

profiles, needs, wishes,

and expectations in order

to create the best possible

UA experience for them


People-Centric Language

Where we’re going (UA)

• Engage all stakeholders along the

lifecycle of an application

• Make content creation an ongoing,

interactive, and open process

• Socialize content using well-

established platforms

Content Co-Creation &

Collaboration

• Rethink the way we present

information to make it easier to

consume

• Provide more visually appealing

assets such as videos, infographics,

and interactive graphics

Multimedia Assets

• Embed assistance directly in the

application, providing guidance

when and where the user needs it

• Enhance field help with examples,

learning content, and so on

In-Application Assistance

Mostly static, text-based help that is often outside of application

Classic

UA embedded where users expect to find it and in a format that suits their information needs

Modern


User assistance language

How we talk to our users

With the language we use, we:

• Give a voice to our applications

• Think of our users as real people first, and users

second – we write in a people-centric way

• Use friendly, clear, and accessible language

* Examples from SAP Sports One


Videos directly integrated into documents

Managing multimedia content as we do text – with versioning,

localization, and accessibility

Multimedia assets (1)

Making information easier to consume with new formats

Infographics

Introducing design into

information transfer

Guided tours for a quick intro to an app

Allowing the user to learn as he or she clicks through a complete

process or scenario


Process overview

Providing additional information with mouse-overs and

allowing the user to navigate by clicking on graphical elements

Architecture overview

Allowing the user to choose which or how much information to see

(progressive disclosure)

Multimedia assets (2)

Making information easier to consume with interactive graphics


In-application assistance

SAP S/4 HANA Fiori

screens now provide user

assistance in a context-

sensitive way using a new

UA framework

User assistance is directly

embedded where the user

needs it

E.g. onscreen UA for fields

is provided and comes in

different formats – text,

graphics, and videos


Content co-creation and collaboration (1)

DITA Preview Server and Web Author

DITA Preview

Server

Translation

Daily

Authors

• Get review and

validation by

subject matter

experts

Reviewers/contributors

• Access latest doc content

• Directly fix/add information

using comments

Translators

• View source content

in context

• Preview translation

in context

Daily

Every 60

minutes Extended

collaboration with

Web Author

With Web Author, subject

matter experts can co-create

content

Lightweight, web-based editor

requires no installation

Changes are stored in a single

source, directly in the DITA

CMS

Corrections and additions are

visible as tracked changes

Templates provide support for

structuring content in line with

the DITA standard

http://www.iconfinder.com/icondetails/24702/72/

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Content co-creation and collaboration (2)

Social media

We make our content go further by:

Posting in communities and channels

Guiding users to relevant content

Having discussions with users online

Our approach


What do we

know about

the cloud?

Who will support

me in enhancing

my skills?

What are the

benefits of the

cloud?

What can we do to

create a positive

change

environment?

?

As technical writers, we asked ourselves what it means for us…

How does the

cloud change my

job?

Will my tasks

change and do I

need new skills?

The journey – people are our biggest asset

The transformation of technical documentation into the user assistance experience, requires us to

rethink and evolve the way we have been doing documentation up until today.


Our objectives and change management approach

Central UA teams

Our key objectives: • Ensure we play a key role in SAP as a cloud

company

• Capitalize on our existing talent

• Innovate our role so we can provide

appealing and effective user assistance to

our customers

• Professionally manage the change across

SAP to support the transition to the cloud

Our key principles: • Leadership buy-in

• Full transparency for all stakeholders

• Dialog, exchange, and participation

• Use existing communication framework and

introduce new change activities if required


Cloud KM

Processes Cloud Cycle

Change Management for all UA-related projects and change management program

KM Tasks &

Responsibilities Skills & Competencies

Job Profiles & Career

Paths

Recruiting Process

Enablement

Planning &

Staffing Guidelines

WP 1

WP 3

WP 2

SAP Cloud

Strategy

Dev

Tools

KM Cloud

Strategy

Cloud UA

Concept

KM

Tools

Scope of our change management program

All UA-related projects*

WP Work

package

Enablement

Next generation KM @ SAP

Processes

Oct 2014 Dec 2015

WP 4


How we involve and engage all stakeholders

Our key findings


New content formats

New text types

New text types Requires different tones of

language and writing styles. E.g. forum discussions, blogs,

video scripts, or subtitling

New content types Various video types (tutorials,

what’s new, how-to, promotional), various graphic types (interactive, info, static,

charts), podcasts, etc.

Faster delivery User experience

New tools

Customer retention

Customer retention Customer satisfaction is more

important as we move towards a subscription model, which

requires closer customer collaboration, user testing, and

user research

New tools Required to produce the

different content types. E.g. TechSmith Camtasia for how-to

videos, Adobe Premier for promotional and what’s new

videos

How our tasks and skills as technical communicators change

User experience Requires basic design and

usability awareness in order to consult development on how best to embed user assistance

Faster delivery Faster delivery cycles require earlier involvement and an iterative approach (phased

publication) not least to ensure the simultaneous shipment of

localized versions


What this means for training

New training courses

Writing:

• People-centric approach

• Blogging

• Scripting videos

Multimedia:

• Creating how-to / promotional videos

• Creating interactive graphics

User Experience:

• User experience basics

• Make the difference with user interface

texts, visual graphics, and interaction

design


Our key findings so far (1)

Process of change management

There are people who embrace change, and they are

excited about the new opportunities

There are people who are afraid of change due to the

instability and the need to learn new skills

Involving people and regular communication is key

It’s not only a matter of training, but also of culture

and mindset

Change takes time and is a gradual process


Our key findings so far (2)

The changing role of technical communicators

Writing and language skills remain important

The new tasks mean more flexibility and

responsibility – a challenge for some and an

opportunity for others

As the tasks diversify, we cannot expect that

everyone can do everything. We need

specialists for certain tasks

With an agile development model and now faster

delivery cycles, it is even more important that

technical communicators are fully integrated in

the development teams

We need to work closer with universities to

attract new talent


Our journey

We assist you,

before you even know

you need help

OUR USERS ARE CHANGING …

… AND SO ARE WE


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