Creating a doc spec

Author

Wing, Liz

Author_Institution

Nortel Networks, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

Volume

42

Issue

2

fYear

1999

fDate

6/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

128

Lastpage

131

Abstract

All technical documentation projects benefit from a good content plan or doc spec. The doc spec is a blueprint for a document. It identifies the product, users, source materials, and subject matter experts (SME). It also provides a preliminary outline of topics, and it estimates the effort to produce the document. Although the doc spec described is for a printed software user guide, you can adapt your doc spec for other types of documentation, including hardware manuals and training guides. The doc spec template is simply a tool that leads you through the document planning and estimating process. Your customized doc spec captures the who, what, when, why, and how of your project

Keywords

system documentation; technical presentation; user manuals; blueprint; content plan; doc spec design; doc spec template; document planning; hardware manuals; preliminary outline; printed software user guide; source materials; subject matter experts; technical documentation projects; training guides; Communication industry; Computer industry; Documentation; Hardware; Process planning; Project management; Scheduling; Software design; Switches; Telephony;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0361-1434

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/47.768166

Filename

768166