The ‘Agile’ Technical Writer: Fact or Fiction?

Introduction to agile for documentation

MDDE 622 AssignmentCollaborative Technical Writing PracticesDana WestPublication date: November 23, 2012 (v1)

The Agile manifesto

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

Self-directed teams

Image: Bee Hive by Rebecca Leaman http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjleaman/2364448242/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Focus on stable code

Image: Meditation by Mitchell Joyce http://www.flickr.com/photos/hckyso/3870006964/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Communication, collaboration

Image: “I Scrum Daily” t-shirt by AleNunez http://www.flickr.com/photos/alenunez/444510317/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Change is a constant

Image: Tai chi in the morning - 7 by psit http://www.flickr.com/photos/psit/5253339905/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Agile in 30 seconds

Continuous stakeholder feedback

To deliver high quality code – and documentation ‘project’ chunkedinto use cases, stories and user roles through series of time-boxed sprints

Image: Stopwatch by William Warby http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/3296379139/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Do I need to know this stuff?

LEAN Agile Iterative

SCRUM

Image: Dolls in the Rain by Joe Lodge http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe57spike/5690570945/ CC BY-NC 2.0

What does this have to do with me?

IterationsUser scenarios

Scrums

Working code

User roles

Sprints

Image: BBC Micro User Guide by Jem Stone http://www.flickr.com/photos/jemstone/2348750617/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Quality is always part of the job

Ensure usefulness not conformance

Image: thumbs up by Daniel Zimmel http://www.flickr.com/photos/devnull/359791913/ CC BY-SA 2.0

The agile advantage

User stories > make documentation more task-oriented and organized

Stakeholder feedback > make documentation more useful and effective

Shorter cycles> Focus on what needs to be done - priorities

Image: Luke Skywalker by Duncan Cumming http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncan/54069883/ CC BY-NC 2.0

It’s all about transparency

Image: curtains by Julie Manzerova http://www.flickr.com/photos/julia_manzerova/4658243305/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Tips?

#1 – Take initiative

# 2 - Increase your product knowledge and add value, become a know-it-all

# 3- Advocate for the user – and the team

#1 – Take initiative

Increase your visibility and scrutiny Attend status/sprint meetings Take part in sprint planning

Ask about documentation impact Spell out ‘done’

What are your ‘done’ criteria?

#2 – Become a know-it-all

Learn and use the product/software I, user

Extend your writing expertise to add value

I, educator Keep them all honest

I, terminologist

#3 – Advocate for user and team

Apply timely customer input Track improvement

Help the team Hold workshops on task-oriented topic

writing, review process, guidelines and standards for writing, style guides and terminology

Recap …

Collaboration rules

It’s not about what the software does but what the user does

Be a minimalist – give them what they need

YOU add the clarityImage: Reminder 2 by bibliojojo http://www.flickr.com/photos/68509201@N08/6225701939/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Agile Alliance. The Agile manifesto (2001). Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/the-agile-manifesto/.

Agile software development. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2012 from the Agile software development Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.  

TAgile wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2012 from the Agile Wiki: http://agile-wiki.wikispaces.com/Agile+WikiLicense: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.

References