Building Bridges to Knowledge
A Solid Foundation for Seamless Product Updates
CILENT
TIMELINE
ROLE
SERVICES
Decisions
2017
Technical writer
• How-to Guides
• Tutorials
• Reference Docs
• Release Notes
• Information Architecture
Automation is imperative. React quickly with our no-code, rules-driven business process automation platform.
TL;DR
A video introduction of the Decisions process automation platform.
*voiced by me 😊
Defining the problem
The company lacked a solid structure of the current amount of documentation to properly support the constant updates of the product.
The software documentation site with over 10,000 online help files is a prime factor in the company's choice of tool to support over 45 staff members and growing clientele. The hosting website at the time was WordPress.
I was able to produce high-quality releases and accelerated content audit, removed 20, and consolidated 15, eliminating costly complexities for sales engineers.
HIGH LEVEL TIMELINE
Ongoing as product release continues to develop
MAKE OF THE TEAM
At the time, team members included 1-3 assigned technical writers
MAIN GOAL
Reduce the number of support tickets
The bigger picture
HYPOTHESIS
An increase in customer satisfaction, sales, and reduction of support tickets will materialize with the implementation of a properly structured documentation website. This will not only support employees but better serve the users as well.
WHY?
With the increase of documentation moving from hard copy paper to online resources, many people prefer to use a search engine to find answers before making a call to receive customer service. Additionally, with the growing amount of people who prefer
self-service support over waiting for a reply – the material must be well organized and detailed.
However, they are finding it difficult to easily sort through documentation, making it increasingly important to find balance in easy sorting through large amounts of documentation.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Not only is this valuable for people who seek help from online resources, but it also opens up new opportunities for the company to increase support in other areas as this will free up time for employees to aid with more focus on developing the product.
Retention
reduce the amount support tickets
Logic
convince stakeholders they will be able to increase sales
Key Goal
ignite interest in new potential customers
Understanding the market & users
Analyzing audience choice of language
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Conversational Style: Instructional / How-to Steps
Click vs Select
Click:
is about mouse actions for more information
Select:
suggests that a choice of several options is being made and is subject to a user action.
Example:
In the Run Readiness Check window, click OK.
Example:
At the Plan Type step, select the Failover option.
The word "click" does not lose its meaning as it would on a mobile device, as currently the software is targeted for browser use only. It is just the standard word in technical communications to indicate "execute," on certain kinds of interactive items on screens.
Constraints
Users are finding it difficult to complete a task with the lack of supporting documentation. This then brings constraints on employees as it increases the number of daily support tickets.
Frustrations
Users typically want to avoid contacting support to save time during a process that proper documentation could explain. Employees often find gaps in the documentation and have to request updates.
User Goals
Users would like to find solutions to their problems quickly and with ease. Leaving only major issues to be resolved by contacting the support team.
Olivia Walker
Healthcare Professional
Dan Mitchell
IT Professional
Tess Andersen
Financial Services
Noah Patterson
Programming Editor
Key takeaways
Target Audience
Best suitable for IT professionals of companies
Largest audience in financial services
Growing number of Healthcare companies
Still targeted towards all businesspeople alike
"Recently participated in their training. They're an awesome bunch, everybody is very helpful. The product they offer is very robust and can help with many, many business needs. It's definitely worth looking into it!"
Brainstorming
Hosting Website
At the time, the current hosting website of choice was WordPress. But with the growing number of documents to support, the team knew a better option was needed.
Key Elements
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Ability to easily migrate files from previous WordPress documentation website.
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Preserve existing SEO traffic
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Had added tools to increase functionality for users
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Customizable options for flexibility when needed.
Breaking down the process
Callout Boxes
The team decided on using callout boxes solely for a visual highlight. This was to only put text meant to call out for specific reasons. The boxes would sit close to the text they support. The color indicates the level of importance.
Examples:
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Summaries
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Examples
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Links to related information
Color codes:
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Red: needs immediate attention
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Yellow: warn users that something of consequence might happen down the road
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Blue: used for an informational message (tips, hints, or raising awareness.)
Warning
Caution
Note
Animation/GIF
Using the tool called SnagIt was meant to shorten the length of documents when a lengthier example needed to be detailed. Providing a 'follow along' approach increases user engagement and focus.
Updates
This draws attention to newly updated documents to increase user trust that product information is constantly up-to-date. This feature helps keep users up-to-date with changes they may need to be aware of.
Table of contents
Providing users with the ability to jump straight to the needed section at a glance view, increases productivity to finish a task more quickly. No need to waste time reading through the whole document for the answer.
Related articles
Tags
We thought it would be a great idea to include relevant documents based on the users' search that would support any additional other questions or research.
Increased traffic by optimizing coherent metadata tags to improve the performance of search engine results.
Information architecture (IA)
focuses on organizing, structuring, and labeling content effectively and sustainably.
Glossary
Although we try to simplify the product software as much as we, it is still a complex tool with certain jargon. So the team decided to include a glossary of terms and areas of usage.
Hyperlink to an article for detailed process examples.
Short example use case.
Short example description of use case.
Search Bar
A simple feature that was missing in the previous documentation website was the ability to search for keywords of interest.
Recently implemented was the support team available via a forum where both other users and teams converse.
To promote the additional resources provided by the company, we included any information shortcut to training services.
Due to constant releases, instead of assuming that each user is up-to-date. Versioning breakdown will help users find relevant information to their version and see the benefits of updating to the new version.
Take a look for yourself!
Feel free to visit the documentation website of the company Decisions.
Conclusion
Deliverables
Designed and wrote product support documentation for each release. Wrote any suggested updates to documentation.
Summary
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The migration to the new documentation website provided the best support needed for the growing company and content size.
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Streamlined business and software development processes by developing project build, consulting with engineering, and creating adequate documentation.
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Increased stakeholder collaboration by practicing agile development methodologies with current networking technologies.
Future Outlook
As the company grows, more hands will be on deck to continue to support the continuous changes of the product. While keeping this in mind, the number of users will increase as well.
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Quick and concise information
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Placed at the top of articles
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Introduce new learning styles
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Keep viewers engaged
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Keep track of participants
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Cuts time
Instructional Videos
Formal or informal, adding a face or just a voice to instructional videos brings a personal touch to the product. Humanizing the product and building trust with users'.
Writing Samples
THANK YOU
NIKITA KING
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