I Admit It: Sometimes I Like to Play Tech Support

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 | Technical Communication

For a moment, let me just sing the praises of Akismet.

Me me me me me…

But seriously, if it weren’t for that nifty little plugin, my blog would be drowned under the disgusting tide of trash that hits it, and I’d have to shut it down. So if you post a comment and it never sees the light of day, I apologize; that may just be Akismet getting a bit gung ho.

Now on to the topic of the post here. Recently, the project I’ve worked on since I was hired at the LDS Church has been launched. With that, a chapter has closed of sorts. But perhaps there’s something of an epilogue.

I think the fact that I’ve spent the last three years documenting this software has contributed to my allowing myself to be pulled into support. I provided live training to a number of users, and I have offered my services to train others who may step forward and request it. It’s kept me busy lately.

I posted awhile ago about drawing a line between training and support. But I find that it’s tempting to remain involved at some level because of one key consequence.

I’m getting to know the users.

*Gasp!*

I have found myself wanting to start over with the documentation. My eyes have been at least partially opened. It’s backwards to try hand someone a manual and watch him or her start looking through it so that you can start writing that manual. But maybe the right idea is there. Maybe the thing to do is hand them a manual—any manual—and see what they do with it.

By the way, for “manual,” substitute quick-reference sheet or whatever other form of documentation you want. But what I’d like to do is get to know what my users do with documentation before the expense is made to create it. I’m getting off-topic here, and I intend to think (and post) more about this, but the idea is that spending time with the users has made me aware of how they approach documentation. In this particular case, I expect the need for tech support from me to drop off, but it has turned into a valuable insight for going forward.

Share This