The impact of user feedback on the continuous improvement of documentation

Naïs ANSALDI, Merve Nur KARACAN, Sara TIBINI
Université Paris Cité, June 2025

Abstract
This paper explores the role of user feedback in the continuous improvement of technical documentation. As documentation increasingly serves as a primary point of contact between users and technology, its quality and relevance are paramount. We argue that user feedback—ranging from user-submitted help requests (often referred to as support tickets) and direct comments to usage analytics and AI-generated insights—is a key driver in identifying gaps and ensuring documentation meets user needs. By examining prevailing definitions and discussions around documentation quality and user expectations, we analyze how these factors shape the way information should be delivered. To understand how organizations collect and respond to feedback, we conducted a survey and interviews with technical writers from a range of industries. Our findings show that while many companies gather user input through various channels, its integration into documentation workflows remains inconsistent. We also explore the emerging use of AI in managing and interpreting feedback. This research highlights the importance of treating user feedback not just as support
data, but as a central component of documentation strategy.

Read the full article in PDF: The impact of user feedback

Expectations vs. reality: A.I. in technical document writing and management

HENG Sylvie, FERREIRA DOMINGUES Stéphanie
Paris Cité University, July 2025

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence has started to make a place for itself in people’s
professional life. As an emerging solution, it evolves quickly and new features
appear every day. Consequently, past research and data on this field may not be as
relevant today as they used to be.
Focusing on the field of technical communication, this exploratory pilot study aims
to investigate the prevalence of these A.I. based solutions, and their relevance in the
work of technical writers and knowledge managers. We interviewed two
professionals to learn about what they think technical writers and knowledge
managers need in terms of A.I. features, and their views on the future of A.I.. We
also conducted a survey, this time targeted towards technical communicators to
know about if they use generative A.I., what they use and what they think about it.
Our findings indicate that companies show a strong interest in generative A.I., and
most of them are considering implementing A.I. solutions. Respondents of the
survey agree with the interviewed professionals on what is needed from A.I.
solutions: reliability and data safety. Generative A.I. should allow us to save time
and work more efficiently.

Read the full article in PDF: AI in technical document writing and management

Writing for safety: how do technical writers ensure user safety?

Oumaima Ferdaous Kaab & Coralie Avodagbe
Paris Cité University, June 2025

Abstract

Although user safety is a key part of product design, it depends not only on thoughtful product design, but also on the ability of technical writers to clearly communicate how to use the product safely and correctly. However, the role of technical writers in this area is often ignored.
This study looks at how technical writers help keep users safe through their documentation.
We focused on three high-risk sectors: transportation, enterprise software, and financial
technology. This research is positioned as an exploratory inquiry and does not aim to deliver definitive conclusions. Instead, it sheds light on practices, challenges, and emerging patterns that reveal the often invisible role of technical writers in safety.

Read the full article in PDF: How do technical writers ensure user safety

Decentralized technical communication: A digital utopia?

Janaïna GEOFFRAY, Messaouda BEN MESSAOUD

Paris Cité University, July 2024

Abstract

The rapid shift to hybrid and remote work models has significantly impacted technical communication, raising questions about the effectiveness and sustainability of decentralized technical writing. This research examines whether remote technical communication can be considered a digital utopia or if it faces substantial challenges that diminish its effectiveness. Through qualitative interviews with technical communicators and project managers, the study explores the influence of remote work on productivity, team cohesion, and documentation quality.
The findings reveal a complex landscape where the benefits of remote technical communication—such as increased flexibility and enhanced digital collaboration—are balanced against significant obstacles, including communication difficulties and inequitable access to resources. This study provides a nuanced understanding of the practical realities of decentralized technical communication, contributing to the ongoing discourse on the future of the field in a digital era. It offers insights into the viability of decentralized work models and their implications for the profession’s future.

Read the full article in PDF : Decentralized technical communication: A digital utopia?

Alternatives to PDF in Technical Documentation

BISSA Corinne, BORDELAIS Anthony, HERIBI Kenz

Paris Cité University, July 2022

Abstract

Technical documentation has become an outstanding resource in the IT industry and the last decades have witnessed a boom of high-performance technical authoring tools.
Despite the multitude of innovative technical writing tools, it has been observed that the dominant output format remains the PDF file, invented in the 1990s.
In the sight of this sluggishness as far as innovative end-user technical documentation is concerned, questions arise: Why has the PDF output survived for so long and what justifies its supremacy over other formats? Another question is, can disruptive innovations be implemented on end-user technical documentation so as to bring about more sophisticated or user-centered output formats?
By discussing with subject matter experts, we are seeking answers to these questions. We are also seeking to explore to what extent modern technologies like virtual reality, artificial intelligence devices among other alternative formats are applicable to end-user technical documentation.

Read the full article in PDF: Alternatives to PDF in Technical Documentation

What makes or breaks a user-centric approach from a UX and technical writing perspective?

Perrine Palfray, Isabelle De Abreu Teixeira

Université de Paris, July 2020

Abstract

The term ‘user-centric approach’ steadily gained momentum over the last two decades, to become a popular professional standard in the digitized industries.

The simplest way to define user-centric is in contrast with a product-centric approach: the focus of the technical content is shifted from the product and what it can do, to the user and what they want to do.

The end goal is to make technical content more digestible for users, making them feel that the content is tailored to their individual needs.

Upon closer investigation, it becomes clear that user-centric technical content and the definition given to this approach to content creation varies greatly due to several environmental and individual factors.

What seems to have become an industry standard, is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of practices that are sometimes difficult to pinpoint with precision and accuracy.

What does this approach actually mean to professionals? What are the facilitating and the challenging factors that come with this new way of thinking technical content creation?

Read the full article in PDF: What makes or breaks a user-centric approach from a UX and technical writing perspective?

The influences of content structuration

ALVES MENDES Ines, BAEK Chooeun, CHALLET Leslie

Paris Diderot University, July 15, 2020

Abstract

Structuring content is the cornerstone of great documentation. Structuration ensures not only coherence across content, but also better user experience. How does structuration occur? We conducted a survey searching for internal and external factors influencing structuration. The investigation revealed that internal factors including tools, languages, standards, and guidelines are the basis of well-structured documentation. External factors, such as user- feedback, and a UX team within the company, also prove to be equally important. Structuration also improves with updates from the right people and for the right reasons. In this research article, we discuss content structuration, restructuration, and how it is heavily influenced by various factors independent from content.

Read the full article in PDF: The influences of content structuration

Creativity in Technical Communication: How to combine creativity with technical communication standards ?

Isis AGBLEVON, Anissa GNABA, Mathilde THIEFFINE

Paris Diderot University, July 2020

Abstract

Is technical communication a creative job? Technical communication remains a domain that is often unknown or misunderstood. People tend to think that technical communicators only write procedures and follow guidelines. As technical communicators, we wanted to combine our experience and vision of our work to discuss the vast subject of creativity.

This matter came to us after several discussions about our respective jobs, and tasks. We realized that even though we study the same principles of technical communication, the work we do in our companies can be very different from one another. All of us are confronted to norms and standards that we need to follow, but does it really mean that we cannot be creative?

Read the full article in PDF: Creativity in Technical Communication

Knowledge management in business strategy

NOTH Rosalie, RENARD Marion, THIBEAUD Hugo

Paris Diderot University, 09/15/2019

Abstract

In recent years, knowledge has become a factor of production in the same way as traditional land, labor and capital. For some, it is even the main factor of production of today’s companies, which tend to create a knowledge management service or to outsource it. The purpose of this research is to understand the importance of Knowledge Management (KM) in companies nowadays, and how it can serve the business strategy. Thus, this article will explain the definition and evolution of KM, then depict the challenges associated with KM and business strategies, and finally explore the way a management system is implemented. Thanks to all these elements, we will be able to understand how the KM system becomes essential in business strategy, and when.

To stick close to reality, we conducted interviews in two companies: one that has implemented a KM system a few years ago, and another without, which allowed us to show two opposite ways of dealing with knowledge in companies, and therefore show the link between KM and business strategies.

Read the full article

Knowledge management in business strategy (PDF)

 

How shifting to a more modern documentation process helps meet user needs

ANDRIAMANANTSOA Ornella, BENZAAMA Loubna, LEONARD Lucie, RESPLENDINO Emmanuelle

Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7, July 2018

Abstract

Digitalization and technological innovations are exerting considerable impact today on technical documentation. In addition, we are seeing more and more collaboration between technical writers and software developers, which naturally is leading to a synchronous code and documentation production evolution.
The research offered herein is based on literature, key articles, survey reports, interviews with documentation and product managers from medium to large French software companies, and analysis of various documentation production process. The results highlight the importance given to documentation and its scope towards users.
To meet the needs of the industry, historical formats such as wikis and PDFs are changing to web-based and embedded formats, which are more accessible, visual, and user-centric. This change not only affects outputs, but also production processes through the merging the product code and documentation delivery. Nonetheless, such innovation is costly and bears limits. Are such technological exploits as smart assistants and virtual reality going to perform well enough to meet users’ demands and needs in terms of documentation?

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5th International Conference on Technical Communication – Beyond Silos (2017)

Patricia Minacori, Marie Girard
Research Laboratory Clillac- Arp, EILA Department, at Paris Diderot University
Technical Writers Without Borders

5th International Conference on Technical Communication

Beyond Silos

Friday 3 February 2017, 10.00-17.00
Paris Diderot University Lecture Theater Buffon
15 rue Hélène Brion, 75013 Paris, FRANCE.

This year’s theme was about collaboration between technical documentation teams and their partners in engineering, training, support, user experience, marketing, translation, change management, and so on. Collaboration beyond silos implies tools and methodologies that support new ways of working, innovation, as well as changes in the role of technical communicators.

10h00-10h10 Opening

Patricia Minacori, Marie Girard

10h10-10h30  M2 CDMM research projects [PDF]

Marie Girard and M2 CDMM students

10h30-10h50 Connecting silos through design thinking: radical collaboration in the Wearables Research Collaboratory [PDF]

Ann Hill Duin et al, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

10h50-11h10 Increasing student access to client information in the service learning technical communication classroom: results of three client contract strategies [PDF]

Sarah Gunning, Towson University, Baltimore, MD, USA

11h10-11h30 Creating collaborations: an interdisciplinary pedagogy for professional and technical writing students [PDF]

Rhonda Stanton and Leslie Seawright, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA

11h30-12h15 Discussions
12h15-14h00 Lunch break
14h00-14h20 Intersection of technical communication and marketing genres: spanning silos through product documentation [Recording]

Scott A. Mogull, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

14h20-14h40 Breaking silos by building highly coupled cross-functional teams [PDF]

Fanny Bischoff, IBM  

14h40-15h00 Content for Industry 4.0 : content is software is content [PDF]

Ray Gallon, Transformation Society

15h00-15h20 Break
15h20-15h40 Intra-organizational communication without barriers: a case study of a technical communications team within a large organization [PDF]

Fabrizia Poli, Docunet

15h40-16h00 Les bienfaits d’une collaboration réussie  entre communicateurs techniques et traducteurs [PDF]

Vincent Bidaux

16h00-17h00 Discussion

 

How and why to implement Knowledge Management

Mathias Revelen, Michael Shaugnnessy

July 2015

Abstract

Knowledge Management (KM) is a discipline that has existed since the beginning of the nineties yet it still sometimes feels like, and is treated like, a new idea. This article explores the reasons for this current state of affairs and tries to identify the underlying cause, or causes, for its lack of support. It seems that many companies are slow to adopt systems of KM and view them with skepticism. Others dismiss them outright before even attempting them. But why are companies skeptical about KM in the first place? There must be a common reason for its failure in so many situations. These are the questions this article seeks to answer.
In addition to readings from experts in the field, information for this article was drawn from the personal experiences of the authors as well as from interviews with an expert and the results of a general survey. Since there are many articles and studies on KM, we chose to focus on a few relevant articles that provided valuable and comprehensive information. Moreover, if we had had more time and resources, we could have conducted a survey on a wider panel of companies.

Read the full article (PDF): How and why to implement Knowledge Management

SMEs and technical writers: a win-win relationship

Manon Chaix, Caroline Halap, Aurélie Jugie

July 2014

Abstract

This paper focuses on the relationship between subject matter experts and technical writers, in the context of two software companies and an optical systems manufacturer. More specifically, this paper intends to highlight the added value of an efficient collaboration for the technical writer, the SME, and beyond, for the companies they work for as well as for the end-user of the documentation. First, we will analyze the respective education, skills, competences and work goals of SMEs and technical writers. Secondly, we will show how technical writers and SMEs work together on a daily basis and can become partners to create high quality documentation by mutualizing SMEs’ technical knowledge and technical writers’ content design skills. Finally, we will identify the benefits of a win-win relationship between SMEs and technical writers for the end-user of the documentation.

Read the full article (PDF): SMEs and technical writers: a win-win relationship

Technical writers and translators: a win-win relationship?

Fanny Bellaïche, Juliette Massardier and Marielle Morizot

August 2014

Abstract

Traditionally, technical communication leverages both technical writing and translation expertise. As both professions share some common skills and objectives, the activities of technical writers and translators are sometimes mixed up. However, they remain two clearly separated occupations and thus complement each other. Based on our working and academic experience as technical writers and translators, we are particularly aware of the importance of a balanced collaboration to align the documentation process with the requirements of today’s industry practice. Current research on the relationship between technical writers and translators mainly focuses on the study of their competences . This paper intends to go beyond the mere analysis of competences and to explore some best practices in order to bridge the gap between both professions: more specifically, to which extent can we consider the translator as a useful resource to improve the writing process? Firstly, we examine why technical writers and translators often collaborate to deliver efficient documentation in their respective fields of expertise. Secondly, we try to understand how technical writers and translators develop shared tools, such as style guides, in order to take advantage of each other’s work. Finally, we show that enhancing this relationship is not the only way to deliver professional  documentation.

Read the full article (PDF): Technical writers and translators: a win-win relationship?

The stakes of collaborative writing

Simon Saint-Georges, Chloé Jaouen

July 2013

Abstract

The arrival of Web 2.0 has changed the ways of working, especially for writers. A wide range of tools now exists, enabling different people to participate in the writing of one single document and introducing new methods of work within teams. These new work methods rely on tools that are constantly evolving. While some companies remain skeptical, others are already embracing these new practices.
Either way, our position of apprentice makes us ideal observers concerning the choices made by our companies and the difficulties that the adoption of these new work methods raises. Such a change can be a real challenge, and selecting the right options to fit one particular situation can be a difficult task.
We will first present the results of our research on the current state of the art in collaborative writing and how and why companies tend to use more and more collaborative writing methods.
We will then explain the situation in the two companies that we work for, Atlas Copco (industrial tooling and equipment) and CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, the French space agency), two companies which are heading in opposite directions in terms of collaborative writing. We will observe the practices, tools, processes and work dynamics involved in writing for both companies.
Finally, based on what we found and observed in the first two parts, we will compare theory and reality concerning collaborative writing in companies.

Read the full article (PDF): The stakes of collaborative writing