Presented by Steve Manning at Documentation and Training East, October 29-November 1 in Burlington, MA. Modular Content Projects: One Size DOES NOT Fit All Making the move to modular content involves more than repeatedly chanting

1. Modular Content Projects: One Size DOES
NOT Fit All
Steve Manning
Principal Consultant, The Rockley Group Inc.
manning@rockley.com

2. The Rockley Group Inc.
2007
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

3. The Rockley Group sample clients
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

4. In this session …
We’ll compare two projects
to implement modular
content and discuss unique
and common issues on the
project
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

5. Project 1 – Large multinational
Large multinational, primarily US and Europe
Growing through acquisition
Multiple business software applications
Distributed documentation teams
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

6. Need for modular content
Geography and acquisitions meant many ways of doing
things
Translation strategy called for simultaneous distribution
in 8 languages
Were falling behind on updates to documentation
Budgets, notably for translation, were being questioned
No reuse of content, but with plenty of opportunity
Needed to refocus documentation to be customer-
centric (and reduce support calls)
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

7. Solution
DITA
Structured topics for consistency … with some
specialization
Topics support selective translation processes
New tools … authoring and CMS
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

8. Key project activities
Fully managed project with some dedicated resources
Hired resources to manage the project and also to
develop DTDs and style sheets
Developed a change management plan and activities
Migrated legacy content
Provided structured documentation training
Provided tools training
Formed ongoing committee to review progress resolve
issues
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

9. Challenges
Both management and writers resistance
Decreased productivity while coming up to speed
Short development times overlapping content
development times
Converting legacy content -- time consuming and
expensive
Learning curve for content design/DITA specialization
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

10. Lessons learned
Plan for migration of legacy content
Create a clear training plan for all aspects of the project
Develop pilot before wider rollout and troubleshoot
Create a dedicated tools team
Plan to rewrite content
Talk to others who have done this sort of project
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

11. Project 2 – Small equipment manufacturer
Less than 250 employees in one location
Growing product catalog
Rapid company growth
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

12. Need for modular content
Over 100 products with similar characteristics/features
Five writers struggling to keep up
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

13. Solution
DITA
Minor specialization … will mostly rely on process for
consistency
New tools … authoring and CMS
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

14. Key Activities
Analyzed content for fit with DITA standard structures
Outsourced legacy content conversion
Provided tools training
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

15. Challenges
Lack of infrastructure support
Different learning curve for different writers – some
struggled adapting to structured writing others did not
Users had a tougher time adapting to the tools than
they thought
Had to rely on vendor for configuration and style sheets
Decreased productivity while coming up to speed in
new system
Balancing CM project with regular content development
in an active/aggressive release cycle
Jumped in with their first project having a tight deadline
Didn’t have a good plan for converting legacy content
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

16. Lessons learned
Don’t underestimate the learning curve of
structured/topic-based authoring
Need to address differing learning curves
Do a pilot with non production or low priority content
Style sheets were an issue and can take a long time/be
expensive
Have a clear plan for legacy content conversion
Have a clear training plan – understand knowledge gaps
to be addressed
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

17. Summing up
Big Small startup
multinational
Communication issues Yes No
Configuration and implementation No Yes
issues
Training issues Yes (mild) Yes
Change management issues Yes (mild) Yes
Content conversion issues Yes Yes
Project on time No No
In production now Yes Yes
Note: No technical writes were fired during the making of these projects!!
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

18. Our
recommendations

19. Plan carefully
Understand what you are getting into
Careful analysis of your content before you begin will
help reduce potential problems
You will need a thorough plan for converting legacy
content
Style sheets are not trivial and need trained resources to
create and maintain!!
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

20. Address the needs of the writers
Address change management
Plan training carefully - be
realistic about your own (and
those of your writers)
capabilities and needs
Consider structured
authoring training in addition
to the tools training
©2008, The Rockley Group Inc.

21. Questions?
Steve Manning
The Rockley Group Inc.
www.rockley.com
manning@rockley.com
http://www.intelligentcontent2009.com