Comments on: How Technical Writers Gather Information: Interviewing the SMEs http://www.poewar.com/how-technical-writers-gather-information-interviewing-the-smes/ Writing Career Center Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:54:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: John Hewitt http://www.poewar.com/how-technical-writers-gather-information-interviewing-the-smes/comment-page-1/#comment-214896 John Hewitt Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:49:42 +0000 http://www.poewar.com/?p=4355#comment-214896 Elise, Not true. This post is about gathering information from SMEs. It is a about a single way to get information. It is not about ALL ways to get information. It is part of a series. I also mentioned that some (far from all) documentation people become SMEs. I have a substantial technical background, but I still interview the SMEs because they are the ones who made the changes to the product or otherwise know the product. They know what they did, and if I assume I know everything just by looking at the product, I am doing the users a disservice. Anyone who thinks they can operate as an island just because they have technical skills is headed for real trouble. That said, clearly the usability of my series needed improvement so I have linked to the first post in the series. Elise,

Not true. This post is about gathering information from SMEs. It is a about a single way to get information. It is not about ALL ways to get information. It is part of a series.

I also mentioned that some (far from all) documentation people become SMEs. I have a substantial technical background, but I still interview the SMEs because they are the ones who made the changes to the product or otherwise know the product. They know what they did, and if I assume I know everything just by looking at the product, I am doing the users a disservice. Anyone who thinks they can operate as an island just because they have technical skills is headed for real trouble.

That said, clearly the usability of my series needed improvement so I have linked to the first post in the series.

]]> By: Elise Hines http://www.poewar.com/how-technical-writers-gather-information-interviewing-the-smes/comment-page-1/#comment-214893 Elise Hines Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:43:07 +0000 http://www.poewar.com/?p=4355#comment-214893 I think this article gives a false impression of how Technical Writers gather information. You failed to mention that some Technical Writers have technical, scientific, or programming backgrounds, and wouldn't need to interview an SME at all, though they may test their documentation with the programmers, developers, etc. I think this article gives a false impression of how Technical Writers gather information. You failed to mention that some Technical Writers have technical, scientific, or programming backgrounds, and wouldn’t need to interview an SME at all, though they may test their documentation with the programmers, developers, etc.

]]>