Write what counts. Count What Counts.
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The document discusses measuring documentation success through defining goals, metrics, and iterating based on measurements. It encourages describing goals for different document types in a way that is countable and measurable, like the number of downloads or questions answered. The key takeaways are to collaboratively define success metrics, measure and analyze performance, then revise documentation goals and processes based on the results.
Write what counts. Count What Counts.
- 1. Bob Watson, Ph.D. Senior Technical Writer Amazon Web Services Write what counts. Count what counts. @bobwatsonphd bobw@docsbydesign.com bobwatso@amazon.com API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 May 6, 2020
- 2. You’ll learn how to measure documentation success
- 3. You won’t learn how to measure everything API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 4. This talk is about external performance metrics Performance ForensicInternal External API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 6. Describe the success you want to see bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 7. Describe how docs contribute to that success Docs Success bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 8. Iterate Measure AnalyzeRevise Describe API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 9. Measure AnalyzeRevise Describe Iterate API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 10. Goals MetricsTech Describe your goal in a way that is countable and collectable Can you describe it? Can you collect it? Can you count it? API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 11. Goals MetricsTech You might not be there, yet API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 12. Goals MetricsTech. Iterate on goals, metrics, and tech Can you describe it? Can you count it?Can you collect it? API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 14. Develop your system API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 16. API docs have many goals API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 17. This doc is successful when___________________. Identify each topic’s goal API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 18. • This doc is successful when • _(audience)_ __(goal)__. Fill in the blanks API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 19. Generalize content goals API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 20. Introductory API topics attract Download API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 21. •Step 1 •Step 2 •Step 3 Tutorial & Procedural topics demonstrate API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 22. Conceptual topics teach API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 23. Reference topics answer API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 25. Observe and iterate API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 26. Some assembly required API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 27. Describe the success you want to track Collaborate on the descriptions Describe that success in a way that is countable and collectable Know what writing success looks like to help you create and measure it Develop your system for iteration and improvement Create, measure, iterate, and improve! Takeaways API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
- 28. • https://docsbydesign.com/category/technical-writing/audience-market-product/ • https://youtu.be/ax_6cS3JHvY • https://docsbydesign.com/category/technical-writing/reader-goals/ • https://docsbydesign.com/wp- content/uploads/2015/07/Watson_UsingReadersAndOrganizationsGoals.pdf • Brandt, J., Guo, P.J., Lewenstein, J., Dontcheva, M., Klemmer, S.R.: Two studies of opportunistic programming: interleaving web foraging, learning, and writing code. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, pp. 1589–1598 (2009) • https://docsbydesign.com/category/technical-writing/measuring-value/ • https://docsbydesign.com/wp- content/uploads/2015/01/SIGDOC2014_CogDimForDocEstimate_PosterPaper.pdf References API the DocsVirtualConference 2020 bobw@docsbydesign.com @bobwatsonphd
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