Producing Technical Communications – A crash course
Whether you service an IT solution,
a technical service product like a support program or any equipment; whether the
reader is the user of your solution, among the sales function or support
personnel – some basic steps are common. This skeletal note simply provides a
‘walk-through’ over these steps:
Stage 1 of 3 –
Developing the brief
The
communication brief is a prerogative of our client*.
Typically, it incorporates:
1 - Function / value proposition of the product**
... what is the product, what does it do, what's new?
2 - Profile of the target user and reader of the manual ... who is it
for? who buys, who services?
3 - Acceptance, its technology or concept .. is it a new innovation
or established product? Where does it fit in the TALC?
4 - If possible, comparison with a competitor's product offering the same
objective / value proposition
5 - Objective of the communication:
a - Form, medium – advertisement, brochure, write-up,
application-note, website, presentation, …
a - Target audience ... who is meant to read this communication
material?
e.g. housewife,
systems manager, (client's) sales & service personnel, technicians ...
conservative office manager, technical enthusiast student, middle-aged
music-lover, .....
b - Desired response ... how is the reader to respond after reading
your communication?
e.g. product awareness, confidence, ability to use, to service, to
repair ... meet contractual obligations, etc.
c - Medium of communication ... print, on-line, on-site, downloadable,
CD, audio, multimedia ...
d -
Other basics – Background of company, schedule, budget, test parameters …
any relevant information.
In case of IT solutions and multimedia content, Use Case,
Story Board or Deployment documents may be provided. In mass communication, a
media plan is crucial. Product Managers usually initiate a Product-Market
Report. * Product/project manager or the decision
maker concerned with the solution, product or service being communicated.
**May be read as
‘technology base’, ‘project solution’ or ‘application’ where so applicable.
Buyers
beware: “As you sow, so
you reap.” Inadequate briefing or research most often
results in dissatisfied clients or employers.
Stage 2 of 3– Research
Using this brief, we compile appropriate information about
the description, features, build-up or design of the product, its main uses or
applications, common problems, diagnostics and support available. Accordingly,
we must match the brief with
a.the style of our writing,
b.style of visual communication,
c.level of technical information and
d.little customer education if needed,
We accordingly compile a report,
initiate a set of guidelines and get these approved, prior to drafting the
communication.
Stage 3 of 3 – Building
Only
certain key or critical components of a communication portfolio are covered
here. The actual building process could be split into planning and execution
phases, depending on the size and frequency of products or project solutions
being churned out. While communication planning, which may further include
publication scheduling is the product/project manager’s imperative, execution
could be in-house or by an agency. A Make/Buy Analysis can support such a
decision.
1.“Make / Buy” decision – In-house or outsourced production?
Such a decision
to hire professionals or procure the communication services is based on a number
of basic questions –
-Does your staff have the required skills to produce the required
communications?
-Does your organisation have all the required facilities to produce
quality communications?
-Can the required man-hours and machine hours be spared for the required
communications?
-Does your budget provide for the overheads and other costs?
-If you recruit people, can you train them and develop their careers?
-Can you afford the opportunity to outsource?
-Can you translate the brief to negotiate a set of clear deliverables for
the vendor?
-How good are your vendor’s communication capabilities?
-If strategy and creative inputs are required, how good are the vendor’s
inputs?
-Can the vendor provide any other value-add towards your organisation’s
objectives?
-Can you build a long-term relationship with the vendor?
2.
Typical Agency-client negotiation sequence
1.Agency submits a general schedule of services provided, their work-units,
rates, terms and conditions.
2.Client approves the schedule and hands over the communication brief. If
the brief needs the vendor’s involvement or is not ready, the client may
initiate a project enquiry.
3.Against a comprehensive brief, the agency initiates an estimate of scope
of work, quantities, costs and time. In case of an enquiry or incomplete brief,
the vendor initiates a proposal explaining the general approach to be adopted,
hence the resources involved in terms of services, skills, man-hours, lead-time
and cost.
4.Client issues a formal Expression of Interest / Letter of Intent to
co-operate with us, solely, for development of the proposed solution. In case of
a clear estimate, the client issues a Work Order.
5.Client assigns authorised personnel to provide information, guidance,
evaluate the outputs and advise, inspect and clear the proposed manuals for our
final billing.
6.Agency submits concepts as ‘roughs’, sketches, dummies or trial solutions
with working details and standards or other information, etc as to be reflected
in the proposed final communication;
7.Optionally, Agency and client may carry out joint development of
comprehensive topic list and specification of content for each specific
communication material / output required;
8.If not submitted previously, a final estimate or bid for work, costs,
time frames, terms and conditions;
9.If not released, a technically and commercially acceptable Work Order;
10.Execution of final work as applicable;
11.Final presentation, for your acceptance;
12.Completion of deliveries, and settlement of accounts, as agreed.
2.Positioning statement A
short and clear positioning statement as given below is crucial to the success
of all marketing and communications:
“For - [user
type] who seek a better [customer’s experience or use of an alternative
solution], weoffer [your product]. Unlike [your
competitor’s / alternative product], [your brand] we have built [overall
features for your specific application].”
Example: Silicon
Graphics in Hollywood
“For
post production film engineers who are dissatisfied with the limitations
of traditional film editors,
Our workstation
is a
digital film editor that lets you modify film images any way you choose.
Unlike workstations from Sun, HP or IBM, we have assembled all the
interfaces needed for film editing.
3.Pre- sales
communications
a.Corporate Profile
Popular in Web, multimedia and soft document formats, print is the traditional
medium Here a company answers itself as to:
- “Who am I?” – Composition of the
company, its reporting structure, location, facilities, capacity …
- “What do I do?” – Products,
services, activities or business areas as applicable – in overview.
- “For whom?” – The market,
typically customer types, market segments or demands serviced.
- “Why me?” – Important
differences with your competitor, key strengths, as per your positioning
statement. A representative selection of specific examples, reports, narrations or
stories told by key persons and visuals make this an effective and
impressionable document. Optionally, the content may extend to Statements of
Quality Policy, Vision, Mission, Values, Business Goals and Key Strategies.
However, managerial concurrence and consensus is a must.
b.Application Note This
is a ‘must’ where a product is used as component or sub-system. This document
focuses on performing a specific task with either a choice of variants
offered by a marketer or just a single model. The application is typically
treated as a burning problem, for which the product being applied is shown as a
prime solution. If used to sell the product concept at pre-sale stage, it must
have forceful arguments to support its claim and hold promise in its suggested
solution. Else, it can be used as a post-sales tech support document, in which
case data, drawings and instructions must be appropriately given.
c.Product Leaflet / Brochure / Catalogue This
is the most important pre-sales communication, if appropriate to the product. A
point of caution here is to provide adequate product knowledge – no more, no
less – to support the USP or value proposition of a product, with regard to each
use that the prospective buyer may have for that. If in a new genre like an IT
solution, PDA or digital equipment, it would require concept selling as well as
reference data.
If there is a
range of products and a choice, a clear element of differentiation e.g., “While
the Express Edition contains all the capabilities to manage data security in
your server, the Premium Edition comes with an advanced Toolkit dedicated to
security management.” Will assist the customer and justify the variety that may
be otherwise confusing.
d.Advertisement
With the above documents ready as a response source, the marketer can
justify the high cost and short life or time-to-respond as associated with an
ad. Mass-media have wide reach and deep penetration if selected carefully. This
makes it necessary for some technology products. Although this is a vast subject
and readings of many books are recommended, like David Ogilvy, Ries & Trout,
Regis McKenna, Geoff Moore, two factors are critical to an effective
advertisement:
- Short application
- Mass Appeal The response from an advertisement at pre-launch stage often gives an early
indication of a product’s success. Media may be print, direct mail (paper) or
the various electronic media – from TV to the Internet.
4.
Post Sales Communication
I.Order Confirmation Documents The
different forms of these are basically to translate the customer’s confirmed
order into instructions for manufacture, design or development as is the case.
Sale Note, Works Order, CRS or Customer Requirement Specifications, SRS or
System/solution Requirement Specification are the different forms of this.
II.Release
Documentation Most
common in the IT industry, its counterpart in the engineering and chemical
industries is a packing list including data like weight, volume and instructions
for shipment, unpacking and storage, especially safety precautions. Further and
typically in heavy engineering, GA or General Arrangement drawings and data
sheets for civil work, fabrication, equipment erection and commissioning may
support these documents, in lieu of a full-fledged instruction manual.
At the Alpha and
Beta stage of an IT solution, the release documentalso may include a set
of component specifications, deployment information, alterations or variance
from previous development or deviations from Customer Requirement Specifications
or Solution Requirement Specifications – in addition to unzip, installation and
operation steps, errors, bugs and their fixes, etc.
III.User’s manual or
guide
This may also be called Operation & Maintenance, Service or Installation &
Commissioning Manual, as per the specific product or industry. The typical
structure of a manual would be as follows, with little or more detail in one
part or the other, depending on the product type and reader or audience -
1 - Statutory / safety warnings, if need prior to any reading of the
manual;
2 - Key product features - illustration with pointers or structure / chart
as applicable;
3 - Warranty terms, disclaimers, non-liability statements, "global" safety
precautions,
2 - Sequence of user's activity in stages, from unpacking / download to
commissioning / start-up;
3 - An orientation on the important tasks to do with the product OR
applications of the product;
4 - Optional - Incorporating the product into important systems;
5 - Common problems encountered - diagnostics & remedies if applicable;
6 - How to obtain support - optional - case-specific ... contact details
of support agencies or staff;
7 - ToC, Index, Glossary as required;
8 - Other reference information or Appendix – circuit, p.c.b. layout,
check-point data or as related to the product.
Additionally, the manual could have a tearaway feedback form, Warranty Card or
an info request slip.
Thus, chapters
and sections should be sequenced logically and predictably. Reinforcing
the reader with what he or she already knows helps one to quickly learn to
navigate through the document. This is one reason why, for example, most rotary
equipment manuals deal with unpacking, inspection, installation, alignments,
connections of water and utilities, pre-checks, grouting, dummy runs, final
commissioning and hand-over formalities, operation & maintenance in this order.
4.Production of these communications is an iterative process. The following steps are
involved:
I.Concept preparation and preparation - decide the content and basic form
of the communication, for approval. The communication is initially presented to
the marketer as a ‘rough’ or ‘dummy’ and eventually takes the form of a refined
document as the concept develops. For electronic media, this takes the form of a
Story-board, maybe accompanied by a Use-case or Deployment document. The
Technical Writer may be involved here but the Visualiser governs this stage.
II.Hard Matter:
Once approved for print, an artwork is prepared. This is the most detailed
design incorporating the finally approved text or copy, which instructs a
printer. Besides layout, font or typeface and its formatting, the finer points
like colour, graphic insertion, paper size and type, background etc are all
finalised at this stage. Beside the Copywriter, this stage uses the skills of
professional illustrators to insert pictures as well as layout designer to
follow the Visualiser’s guidance.
III.Soft Matter:
The above steps, in case of ‘soft’ multimedia or on-line solutions, these are
combined into a cycle of ideation and detailing. One big advantage here is that
the sequence need not be linear. For example, it is quite a common practice to
begin with the output-side GUIs or the final scene. Another advantage is that
each idea or each attempt is saved as a different file. Multiple combinations
are possible, to produce different ‘look & feel’ effects. This way, the ‘best
fit’ is refined into the final communication, with inspection and proofing at
each step. The final output is directly replicated as sought – either as files
to me sent as e-mail or stored on CD-ROM, web server, archive or database.
IV.Coming back to print, the final artwork is replicated as an image on
negative and positive films, then to a plate for offset printing, or any viable
alternative process. With printers like Linotronics directly processing images
on positive images from document and image files, the need of an artwork is done
away with in many cases.
This completes the basic set of
documentation and a minimal set of guidelines to proceed from brief to
production. Of course, the exact sequence of steps as well as documents and
communication forms may vary. In some cases, other promotional inputs are also
deployed to support a total communication campaign, such as events and
exhibitions, point-of-sale displays and merchandising … but these are yet
another story!
