1. 1. Write It Down: Process Documentation from the Ground Up Kat Toomajian Dreamwidth Studios LLC Misskat.dreamwidth.org :: @zarhooie #ProcDocOSB
2. 2. About Me l Dreamwidth Studios LLC l Support Team Lead l Community and Volunteer Support l Allstate Insurance l Total Loss Rental Coordinator l Volunteer l Society for Creative Anachronism l Regional Manager for artwork distribution l CONvergence Con l Operations Dept subhead for inter-department communication
3. 3. About Me l Dreamwidth Studios LLC l Support Team Lead l Community and Volunteer Support l Allstate Insurance l Total Loss Rental Coordinator l Volunteer l Society for Creative Anachronism l Regional Manager for artwork distribution l CONvergence Con l Operations Dept subhead for inter-department communication
4. 4. Process Documentation Creates a document from which a thing can be reliably recreated by different people
5. 5. What does it look like? Wiki Physical document *~*~Flowchart~*~* Internal web page ???
6. 6. What it should NOT look like A mess Unorganized stack of papers Defunct web link Spam-filled wiki Out-of-date ANYTHING Takes maintenance Amount will vary
7. 7. Why is it important? Consistency and Reliability Ease of Use Reference Material Collective Knowledge Base Historical Documentation
8. 8. Basics of Documentation Do the thing you do Write everything down Distill into coherent and useful document Make it available It's ok to hire someone to do this for you. Documentation Superheroes do exist
9. 9. How should we think about this? Baking cookies Making the cookies = process Recipe = documentation Mom's cookie vs Aunt Jane's cookie Micro and Macro variations
10. 10. The Generals Create an outline What do you want to document? Get specific Why do you want to document it? Who is my target audience? How do I want to format it?
11. 11. The Generals Create an outline What do you want to document? Get specific Why do you want to document it? Who is my target audience? How do I want to format it?
12. 12. Formatting Wiki Rapid updates Multiple contributors Scaleable Web page More static Limited contributors Multimedia ~*~*Flowcharts*~*~ Any media Visual representation They are my fav Physical document Won't change often Any size Not multimedia
13. 13. Formatting Wiki Rapid updates Multiple contributors Scaleable Web page More static Limited contributors Multimedia ~*~*Flowcharts*~*~ Any media Visual representation They are my fav Physical document Won't change often Any size Not multimedia
14. 14. Best Practices Keep it simple Lots of pictures Explain what you're doing Explain WHY you're doing it
15. 15. Level of Detail Meet people where they are Determine knowledge baseline Presentation method limitations High-level vs Nitty-Gritty
16. 16. Level of Detail Meet people where they are Determine knowledge baseline Presentation method limitations High-level vs Nitty-Gritty
17. 17. Know Your Audience Who is actually using this document? What are they trying to accomplish? What do they know already? Jargon What do they NOT know?
18. 18. Know Your Audience Who is actually using this document? What are they trying to accomplish? What do they know already? Jargon What do they NOT know?
19. 19. Know Your Audience Who is actually using this document? What are they trying to accomplish? What do they know already? Jargon What do they NOT know?
20. 20. Does It Exist? Is the thing you're referring to actually a thing which exists in this plane? If they don't exist Create them into being OR Don't reference them
21. 21. Proof Your Stuff Proofreading Spelling, grammar, etc No simple mistakes Copy Editing Format, punctuation, information distribution Easy to read Beta Reading Consistency, clarity, take out useless stuff
22. 22. Proof Your Stuff Proofreading Spelling, grammar, etc No simple mistakes Copy Editing Format, punctuation, information distribution Easy to read Beta Reading Consistency, clarity, take out useless stuff
23. 23. ~*~*Flowcharts*~*~ I really love flowcharts Visual representation of concepts People who learn differently Insurance story time! Chains of Command Who they are, when to contact, how to contact, etc
24. 24. ~*~*Flowcharts*~*~ I really love flowcharts Visual representation of concepts People who learn differently Insurance story time! Chains of Command Who they are, when to contact, how to contact, etc
25. 25. Jargon More insurance story time! Explaining things takes longer That is okay sometimes Depends on format Jargon is sometimes unavoidable Make it easy to learn
26. 26. Jargon More insurance story time! Explaining things takes longer That is okay sometimes Depends on format Jargon is sometimes unavoidable Make it easy to learn
27. 27. Jargon More insurance story time! Explaining things takes longer That is okay sometimes Depends on format Jargon is sometimes unavoidable Make it easy to learn http://wiki.dreamwidth.net/wiki/index.php/Common_Jargon
28. 28. Explain What and Why Story time! Reasons are not always obvious at first Do your research Be explicit Because Rah Said So Always been done that way != good reason It's more comfortable for me = good reason Explore the why
29. 29. Explain What and Why Story time! Reasons are not always obvious at first Do your research Be explicit Because Rah Said So Always been done that way != good reason It's more comfortable for me = good reason Explore the why
30. 30. Explain What and Why Story time! Reasons are not always obvious at first Do your research Be explicit Because Rah Said So Always been done that way != good reason It's more comfortable for me = good reason Explore the why
31. 31. Explain the Steps With reasoning, people are less likely to skip steps The Why is part of the internal process I do not advocate for being hit by a bus
32. 32. Talk to People Review processes with target audience Create a safe space Take note of concerns Not a one-step process
33. 33. Step Four: PROFIT You now have tools! Try using them! Practice Document something simple Not work related
34. 34. Questions?