atw: Re: Statistics to demonstrate value ...
- From: Peter Martin <peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:27:12 +1100
Janice Gelb:
You wrote:
> On 19/10/09 02:57 PM, Peter Martin wrote:
>
>> Just another thought or two -- along these lines (But beware! this may be a
>> two-edged
>> sword if your templates don't comply with recommendations)
>>
>> From time to time it is convenient to point out that badly-formatted
>> documents bugger
>> customer comprehension.
>>
> [snip]
>> Meanwhile, (or in addition), often Support people can provide assistance
>> here if they
>> can point to instances where sloppy docs gave them more grief than they
>> needed, which
>> ruins the company's product image, wastes support time, and pisses customers
>> off.
>> (One reason why I'm a great believer in tech writers doing what they can to
>> co-
>> ordinate with Support people, have them reviewing docs, and listening to
>> what help
>> desk people say about what customers just get wrong or simply don't read in
>> the docs.)
>>
>
> All good points. However, they relate to product docs and external customers.
> Because
> the original post specifically noted that these were in-house documents, I
> didn't
> include these angles.
>
Just clarifying that...... Looking back at Suzy's posts, I see she has been
referring to Functional Specs etc and a few other documents which one assumes
from the "Sales" context may be part of the contracting process with a customer
on a sales proposal etc.
Which only goes to emphasize what I was trying to say:
Documents like these need to be reviewed and understood thoroughly by all the
parties involved (QA principles would certainly indicate that).
What you have with an unclear and badly-formatted Functional Spec document
presented to a customer is potential for disaster in several key areas:
a.) the sales people misunderstand the specs
b.) the customers misunderstand the specs;
c.) the developers misunderstand the specs;
d.) the testers misunderstand the specs and the test requirements etc etc.
etc...
Any of which can cost +millions+ in some companies.... And I've seen it
happen just that way.
Suzy, tell 'em your part of their business insurance and worth the millions
they might otherwise lose....
-PeterM
peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fear is the mind killer. - Paul Muad'Ib
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