Why user documentation should be tested and how to do it

Everyone knows that it is important to test software so that you find any bugs before it goes out to customers. The majority of organisations that develop software have people who spend at least some of the time doing testing their software. Many may also do ‘user acceptance’ testing to check that the software meets [...]

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User documentation standards

Here is the full set of user documentation standards from ISO/IEC JTC1/Sc7/WG2: ISO/IEC 26511:2011 Systems and software engineering — Requirements for managers of user documentation ISO/IEC 26511:2011 specifies procedures for managing user documentation throughout the software life cycle. It applies to people or organizations producing suites of documentation, to those undertaking a single documentation project, and [...]

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ISO/IEC/IEEE 26515: Developing user documentation in an agile environment is now published!

Here is it: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=43074

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Developing user documentation in an agile environment: An International Standard

UPDATE: The standard is now available: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=43074 This week I gave a presentation with this title to the Technical Communication UK 2011 Conference. I’ve attached the slides that I used in the conference here: TCUK11_Agile, although they won’t really mean much to anyone! The majority of the presentations I’ve done in the past do rely on Power [...]

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Working group 2 standards adopted by IEEE

This week two of the standards produced by working group 2, software and systems documentation, have been formally adopted by the IEEE and released as IEEE standards. The two standards are 26514 (Requirements for Designers and Developers of User Documentation) and my standard 26513 (Requirements for Testers and Reviewers of User Documentation). Best to visit [...]

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ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7 Plenary 2010 – Niigata, Japan

I’ve just returned from the latest SC7 Plenary meeting in Niigata in Japan. As usual we had a good meeting, although we were shorter on experts than usual, and this meant that the discussion was probably less than it would usually be for our standards work. However, to make up for this, we did have [...]

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Press release on my standard on testing and reviewing user documentation

I’ve just found this press release about my published international standard: IS0 26513 Systems and software engineering – Requirements for testers and reviewers of user documentation. It’s good to see press releases about standards to help our users find standards relevant to their business. The article also mentions the other standards that we are currently developing in [...]

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User documentation in an agile environment

I’m currently working on a draft for a proposed new standard on developing user documentation in an agile environment. There is a lot of information out there about agile software development, but most of it is focused towards code developers, and possibly project managers. What I have noticed is there is very little advice out [...]

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ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7/WG2 – Plenary in Berlin

I’ve recently got back from the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 Plenary meeting in Berlin. In case you don’t understand the acronym, this is a meeting of the Software and systems engineering sub-committee of the International Standards Organisation. SC7 and it’s working groups meet twice a year, with the Plenary held in May, and working group meetings [...]

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