Make Your Documentation Work!

Documents are not born in a vacuum, although they may be stillborn. Why? Too often, the author assumes he or she knows the audience and understands their information needs. In fact, more often than not, managers, engineers, and even marketing specialists conduct little research to identify what the audience needs and expects.

Authors need to know how those for whom the product was developed will use it to do their jobs. When the author knows that, your documents will be much more readily accepted and used, and your customer service costs will diminish.

Use & Re-use Your Content!

You use your content over and over in different forms as needed to serve your enterprise and customers. Think of how often you use the same content in how many different forms:

• Installation instructions
• User guides
• Programming references
• Marketing materials such as:
  
  • Brochures
  • Flyers
  • Web site articles

Now, consider the cost involved in revising and updating each publication, separately!

Get Results

You want results that you can quantify and measure, especially if yours is a small or medium-sized company!

Use James River Technical Communications to evaluate your information structure and offer an architecture that best meets your needs and those of your clients.