Different Perspective on Measuring the Value of Technical Communication

By Joe Christensen on Thursday, August 27, 2009

“A Different Perspective on Measuring the Value of Technical Communication,” an article by Ellis Pratt in the July/August issue of the Intercom, provides a nontechnical writer’s perspective of the value of user documentation. As sales and marketing director for Cherryleaf, a technical writing company in the United Kingdom, I want to provide you with some new ideas on how to measure and prove the value of user documentation. We will look at:

• The uncertainty of the benefits of user documentation.
• The business case for documentation.
• What you should measure.
• Adapting user value measurement from the design profession.

The Uncertainty of the Benefits of User Documentation when technology companies contact us about writing their user documentation, we ask them why they’ve approached us. We ask questions about what problems they want to solve, what benefits they were hoping for, and how they will be measuring the benefits. The responses are usually fairly woolly, to be honest. Most relate to improving the credibility of the product (a feeling that professional products have professional documentation) and reducing the cost of support. Unfortunately, customer loyalty (an area where user assistance can add great value) is something often taken for granted by organizations…

Reading Ellis Pratt's article on measuring the value of technical communication

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This is the Intercom July/August 2009 Free Feature Article. Intercom, the magazine of the Society for Technical Communication, is published to provide examples and applications of technical communication that will promote its readers’ professional development. When you join STC, your receive ten issues of Intercom as part of your membership.