atw: Re: Dealing with SMEs?
- From: Stuart Burnfield <slb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Austechwriter <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:01:00 +0900 (WST)
Good advice so far. Some more thoughts:
- It's better to go in with a tentative understanding and get the SME to
correct or elaborate it. Ideally you shouldn't go into a session just to be
pumped full of new information. It's very hard to understand complex material
without having time to go over it in your mind.
- Try to develop a 'big picture' that you gradually expand and refine as you
find out more. Early on it might just be a one-page diagram or a few sets of
bullet points. As you learn more you might expand each bullet point or blob in
the diagram into a paragraph. After a while it should cover things like the
purpose of the project/product; its main features/functions; main
industries/markets/competitors; main users; their tasks and goals. Think of
this as the overview or plan of attack that would have liked to have when you
started on the project--a survival guide for your younger self. From time to
time, check this understanding with your manager and the SMEs. This will be
your solid ground when you go on to drain new areas of swamp.
- Remember that your SMEs have probably been immersed in the project for some
time and they may have been grappling with complex, low-level details when you
come to see them. It's hard for anyone in that situation to step back and give
the to someone who's new to it.
- Don't try to chase down every unfamiliar concept while you're talking to an
SME. There will always be jargon that you don't understand. You need to develop
a sense of when to jot down an acronym and keep listening, when you need to
stop the SME and ask for clarification, and when something unfamilar is
probably not relevant to you so you can just ignore it.
- A lot of people pooh-pooh Wikipedia but it's a great resource for technical
concepts when you're starting from zero.
I can recommend this excellent book:
_User and Task Analysis for Interface Design_, by Hackos and Redish
Plenty of guidance on how to gather and organise information. Don't be put off
by the name--it's equally applicable to tech writers.
Good luck.
Stuart
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