As global businesses and consumers are looking for proper documentation to accompany the products they buy, not in the last place because maintenance/service has become more important, the need for high-quality technical information is vital and ultimately the key to a company’s success. This brings up technical writing challenges, and we’ll be discussing these as well as some solutions. Show
Over the past decade, many Western companies have decided to outsource some of their functions to best-cost countries like India and China, including technical writing. At the same time, more Asian companies are going global with their products and therefore also see a need to meet global standards, including those for technical documentation. A challenge that generally remains, however, is the assurance that documentation meets certain quality standards. For example, technical information should be clear and concise, and it should not be possible to distinguish where the original author of the manual comes from. How to deal with these technical writing challenges deserves a bit more in-depth analysis. Technical writing has become an upcoming profession over the last few years, for example in India, only being succeeded by jobs like engineering and management. Although the majority of these technical writing jobs are with software and web development companies, other industries like manufacturing, telecom, medical and energy also see a growth in technical writing needs. The same trend can be seen in China, although there we also see many Chinese companies going global with their products. Multi-faceted audience of technical documentation Technical writing is a shared effort as not only writers are involved, but also engineers and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) who have a lot of knowledge about their products but may lack the skills of a technical writer. In addition, multiple writers usually contribute to one manual. Content created by a technical writer usually doesn’t only end up in technical manuals, but also in social media, online help, video tutorials and even in augmented reality applications. A technical writer must write for a global audience, but also work with colleagues (read: SMEs) from different countries. In other words, you will have technical writers with different technical, cultural and language backgrounds create content for end users who also have different technical, cultural and language backgrounds. The needed skill-set for a technical writer Next, we need to look at what skills are required from a technical writer, as there usually aren’t (with a few exceptions there) formal training courses for technical writing offered by Universities:
Overall, a good technical writer can adopt a wide array of topics to the extent that they can provide clear, understandable content for several audiences. Style guides and writing standards are a great way to help you achieve clarity, consistency and conciseness in technical information, but how do you enforce them, and what about getting consensus on what terminology to use? Simplified Technical English, for example, requires that one word can only have one meaning. Moreover, training is also essential as it not only helps you learn the writing rules and how to apply them, but also to distinguish the nice-to-know from the need-to-know. We can help at Etteplan. We have trained over 3,000 technical writers worldwide and assisted companies with building terminology databases with both approved and non-approved terms to help achieve clarity and consistency in writing. In addition, we offer HyperSTE, a checker tool that plugs in to your authoring environment to help technical writers create content that is engaging, uniform and cost effective, regardless of where it is created. Want to know more? Ask us! All products and apps require some level of existing knowledge to use. Thankfully, most users are tech-savvy enough to have a baseline understanding of standard elements like buttons, checkboxes, forms, etc. In fact, no matter how advanced your audience is, technical documentation is recommended for users to effectively use your product, app, API, or SDK. If your audience is advanced and your product more complex than average, technical documentation can be one of your highest performing assets in terms of ROI. Great technical documentation can lead to great user experience and retention, not to mention the time saved on customer service. In this article, we discuss the different types of documentation, what makes for great technical documentation, and provide examples. What is Technical Documentation?Technical documentation is the foundational information about the underlying architecture, materials, and process for interfacing with, or building on top of, existing technology. In software, technical documentation outlines the various API routes and endpoints the developer can access, or it can explain the libraries, integrations, and dependencies of the SDK. Every engineer who has ever written code in any language has referenced technical documentation at one time or another. Even the programming languages themselves have technical documentation. Types of DocumentationThe documentation process can be used for a number of reasons. Documentation helps others (and sometimes yourself) verify and validate the results. Documentation is like cartography. After exploring new territory for ourselves (building our innovative apps and products) we must provide detailed directions for users to find their way as well. Some of the various types of documentation include:
This list of documentation types is not exhaustive and although each of the above types of documentation have their ideal use cases, there is no one-documentation-fits-all. In fact, most businesses will have more than one type of documentation.  What Makes for Great Technical Documentation?Technical documentation shouldn’t require a Ph.D. to understand. Even if your app is intricate and complex, your documentation should be clear and concise, which is easier said than done. One thing that helps make this happen is being as detailed as possible at every step of the way, even if it feels repetitive. You have to give readers an organized way to quickly find information about the features, functions, and resources available to them. This is where a table of contents and active contents outline comes in handy. Another important feature of technical documentation is the version, compatibility, language, and revision date associated with the documentation. This information helps give the reader a quick check to make sure they are in the right place to find solutions to their problems. Great technical documentation includes the following: Other simple features, like pagination, for example, allow the reader to easily transition between pages within the documentation without having to use the table of contents or search function to continue reading. Opportunities to provide feedback and connect with an alternative support channel are also immensely helpful for understanding what documentation is not clear and prioritizing updates to those sections. Within our own developer docs at CleverTap we have a feature that allows readers to “suggest edits.” This helps our team clarify areas in our documentation that could use more context and detail. Tips for Developing Better Technical DocumentationWriting technical documentation is no easy task. Thankfully, the people with the most knowledge on the subject are those who work with it every day: your team. Unfortunately, having the most knowledge on the subject does not always result in the most easy-to-understand documentation. Let’s cover a few challenges to watch for and resources to include to level up your documentation. Avoid the Curse of KnowledgeNo matter how intuitive you believe your product is or how intuitive it actually is, there will always be someone who doesn’t understand. We are hardwired to think about problems from our perspective, which is why our solutions are often riddled with cognitive biases and false assumptions. For example, if you use an iPhone every day, you may forget that Android has a different user experience that must be considered in the docs. The curse of knowledge (in regards to documentation) is when you assume the reader has the same level of understanding as you and will be able to decipher acronyms, code samples, and other resources you have provided. Even if it seems clear to you without additional context, being repetitive and comprehensive will benefit your documentation and engage more readers. Include Screenshots and ScreencastsAccording to American educator Edgar Dale, we remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, and 50% of what we see and hear.1 If this is true, only 10% of the most well-written documentation will be retained, but including screenshots and screencasts can bring this number into the 30%–50% range. Documentation is like an open book test, users and developers can use it as a reference at any point and on any problem. Screenshots and screencasts effectively mirror what the user should see, and verifies whether they are using the app properly. Offer TrainingIf your app, product, API, or SDK is complex and requires more effort and time for users to grasp the underlying concepts and use it effectively, consider offering in-depth learning resources. Google Analytics, for example, has a helpful academy for all levels of knowledge and experience.2 But not everyone has the resources that Google does. And we’re not advocating everyone should have this level of detail. Guides, tutorials, articles, and other learning materials can create the basis for your “academy.” Even a sample use case or application can help users learn the intricacies and subtleties of your tool. Examples of Great DocumentationAs discussed, documentation can range from a one-page requirements sheet to a thick reference manual documenting a new open-source framework. Today, documentation for apps, APIs, SDKs, and even most hardware products are available online. Below are a few top-notch examples of various types of technical documentation. 1. End-User Documentation: Apple iPhoneApple’s documentation is simple and clear with an option to select the iOS version the user currently has installed, a table of contents for referencing other features, device-specific screenshots, and even the option to connect with the support team directly. 2. Technical Documentation: Google Apps ScriptThe technical documentation of an API allows developers to quickly find their footing with the tool and solve problems that arise during development. Google provides many helpful features in their technical documentation for their scripting platform, Apps Script, which allows developers to extend their G-Suite platform.3 For example, Google provides a field for user-generated feedback on the quality and helpfulness of the documentation. This user feedback can help reveal areas within the documentation that need improvement. Google also provides learning guides and samples for developers to quickly grasp how their software can be used. 3. Interactive Documentation: GitHubThe ability for developers and users to interact with the product, app, API, or otherwise within an easy to use sample environment is a great way to get users onboarded. GitHub, for example, provides developers with an easy way to verify their database queries are formatted properly and successfully returning the requested data.4 This split screen view also allows the user to dig into the technical documentation and understand what information the GraphQL API requires as input. Writing Your Technical DocumentationProper documentation can help improve user adoption, experience, and retention. Developers will rely on the depth, detail, and accuracy of your technical documentation as the reason to continue using your tools. We’ve taken our own advice to heart in our developer documentation as well as our user documentation. But before you dig into our documentation, sign up for a brief demo to see how our intelligent mobile marketing platform can help you grow, engage, and retain your mobile app users. See how today’s top brands use CleverTap to drive long-term growth and retention Schedule a Demo Now! Posted on February 18, 2020 What are technical documents called?There are five major types of product technical documents; product manuals, user guides, repair manuals, API documentation, and SDK documentation.
What is business technical documentation?Technical documentation is any piece of writing that describes the application, purpose, creation or architecture of a product or service. Its goal is to explain something that an organization offers. There are several types of technical documents, each intended for a certain audience.
Which type of technical document would a technical writer prepare to provide an overview of a research project?Technical reports
Technical reports are written to provide information, analysis, instructions and/or recommendations. These reports provide the reader with enough background on a topic to be informed and potentially make decisions.
What is a technical writing document?Technical writing includes a wide range of documents. They include instructions, reviews, reports, newsletters, presentations, web pages, brochures, proposals, letters, fliers, graphics, memos, press releases, handbooks, specifications, style guides, agendas, and so on.
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