No Pen, No Ink...
Monday Mar 10, 2008
Kicking (out) the (information) bucket?
For many years, we have delivered books to our customers. Whether those books are printed or delivered online, they still follow a very traditional, sequential information flow. We separate information into various "buckets" that define how those books are put together. Is that still what our customers need or is it time to "kick (out) the (information) bucket?"
You might consider this to be a follow-on to a blog that I posted a few months ago To blog (or wiki) or not to blog.... that is the question. Once again, I am seeking input on what our customers really need in their "information products." Several Sun product teams have put some product information, such as troubleshooting and best practices, on wikis.sun.com. For some of those products, we are also putting more formal information on the wiki to make it easier for customers to comment and to collaborate with us about that information. At present, though, the general expectation seems to be that we would then take that information and put it into a "traditional book" on docs.sun.com (or something very similar).
This approach implies that we still believe customers want and need information to be presented in a sequential flow. Is that a valid assumption? We often separate our information into books according to audience. For example, see the Sun Grid Engine 6.1 collection on docs.sun.com. This information approach is based on years of experience as has really changed in only minor ways as our industry has evolved. However, I have to wonder if technology changes shouldn't have caused us to consider more significant information structure changes too. For technical information about a given product, does the book concept still meet your needs or would you rather have information presented in much smaller "chunks" (or topics, if you prefer) that you can access more directly? Do you want (or need) to be able to print topics in a defined sequence or is the ability to print individual topics sufficient? Your thoughts (and those of your friends) on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
Posted at 10:31AM Mar 10, 2008 by jcinfoblog in General | Comments[1]
In response to "we still believe customers want and need information to be presented in a sequential flow. Is that a valid assumption?" ....
It's true I work at Sun and therefore am interested, as a Sun person, in folks' responses to your blog entry which I enjoyed reading. But of course it's also true that I'm a customer in my own right (aren't we all these days)... And there's one thing I really believe from both perspectives: Yes, the customer defines what good documentation is. And good documentation, IMHO, = doing whatever has to be done so I can type in a word or phrase and be immediately taken to a small number of choices from which I can find exactly what I'm looking for exactly when I need it :) The sequential flow I want is pretty much the information in the flow of the sequence I decide.
Posted by deborah doyle on March 10, 2008 at 03:45 PM CDT #