Laure-Amélie Le Stang, Camille Riche, Alizée Rodriguez

July 2014

Abstract

This research article aims at studying how to create different levels of usage using structured documentation, once user profiles have been defined. From the review of different articles written by technical writing experts, to the analysis of various use cases, we will examine several solutions to document functionalities or products for a complex and diversified audience. In the first part of our paper, we will analyze existing techniques experienced in our companies, such as single sourcing and filtering metadata. In the second part, we will focus on a specific use case, and present the challenge of a company which is trying to optimize costs, improve the quality of its documentation, and at the same time, address different user expectations. In conclusion, we will see there is not one perfect solution, but some useful techniques, each adapted to a particular issue technical writers must identify before selecting the right one to fix it.

Read the full article (PDF): Designing documentation for different user profile needs and expectations: process and purpose