What Is the Process and Description of Technical Writing?

Writing in the Product Cycle

The process begins with an expert who creates a product that is then documented by the writer and corrected by an editor. Once completed, the documentation and product are sent to a tester for quality assurance. Finally, the distributor bundles the complete package and sends it to the customer.

Audience

Relevant and useful writing can be created only after thoroughly defining the audience. What is their technical background, age and education? Do they have any physical or social constraints? How will they use the product to improve their lives?

Defining

Expert recommendations and audience needs are the keys to defining what documentation to create. For example, a TV buyer may need a fold-out chart showing tasks as diagrams and a printed user's guide with many pictures. A software technician may prefer an online technical reference with extensive search features and a troubleshooting guide in hard copy in case the computer is down. Consult with the distributor on the best way to bundle any writing into the product package.

Researching

Previously printed documents and websites on competing products can provide insights on what information needs documenting. The expert may have produced technical specifications, diagrams and programming code. Interviewing him as well as using the product yourself supplies additional source material.

Writing

Rather than extolling product features, technical writing must explain how the audience uses the product to fulfill their needs. Use concise sentences and short paragraphs in the active voice. Break up text with frequent, verb-heavy section heads that describe tasks. Unless you have a technical audience, simplify jargon. Finally, use an accurate table of contents, an extensive index, illustrations and lists so users can find information quickly.

Editing

Writing becomes clear, consistent and useful only after it's edited by someone else. Editing your own work risks errors because you're too close to it. Even before writing, you can agree with your editor on a set of standards such as the "Associated Press Stylebook." Technical documents often bounce between writer and editor before they're approved.

Testing

Writing can accurately be verified only when the expert and the tester review the documentation against the product. Do the written procedures make tasks easy to perform? Do the overviews define all parts of the product completely? Are users warned adequately about any safety issues? An ideal time to submit a draft for review is during product testing. In this way, both product and documentation can evolve together.

Distributing

Budgets and user needs define how documentation is bundled with the product. For example, printed documents are expensive to produce but easier for users to carry around. On the other hand, online writing is easily updated and cheap to produce but requires a computer for access. Make sure the documentation is the first thing seen by the user when she unpacks the product. Otherwise, she may set up the product unsafely or incorrectly.