Paper 140

TITLE:  Writers in the dot.com storm: An examination of the challenges and opportunities provided by working as a technical writer for a small start-up company.

AUTHORS(s) & AFFILIATION(s):  Ceri Williams, Manager, Training and Documentation, Basis100 Inc.

KEYWORDS:

PRESENTER / CONTACT PERSON: Ceri Williams

CONTACT EMAIL: cwilliams@basis100.com

ABSTRACT :

The dot.com phenomenon is the subject matter of numerous anecdotes. At one time the stuff dreams are made of, the dream turned sour. Now those few companies still remaining try desperately to find buyers for their products before they run out of cash.

However the dot.com experience provided a wealth of new experiences for me as a technical writer. The more casual approach to work made it possible for me to join the product development team during the spec and design phase of the project - the technical writer's nirvana. However, as the financial squeeze was felt our company underwent several restructurings. This means fewer persons to complete the required work. As someone who was involved in the product spec sessions I now found myself doing more and more Business Analyst work, with technical writing and training work falling by the wayside.

The restructuring also directly affected the technical writing department, as this was split up into separate development teams, with practically no interaction between the two teams.

This paper uses these experiences to examine the role of the technical writer in the design and development phases of a product, as well as the product implementation phase. What skills were required to be a productive member of the design team? What benefits did I as a technical writer bring to the team? How did the other team members perceive this contribution? What would we repeat, and what would we do differently?

This paper also touches on different structures of the technical writing department, including its location in the corporate structure, and reviews the pros and cons of the different models based on personal experience.

Last modified October 28, 2001 by Scott Tilley.