writing & editing
Down
withPrint
BY LISA EARL,
Plugging a Paperless Process in a
Customer-Centered Company
(PHk elieve it or not, up until a year
I ago, printed user guides were
^^^Jf the primary source of techni-
cal information for my com-
I pany's customers. Why were
WMMKr we still stuck in the dark ages?
Company management was customer
focused and didn't want to eliminate
what it thought was an essential service.
Providing free, printed user documen-
tation had been part of the company's
practice since its beginnings.
i8
Member
Because the company's products con-
sisted of both hardware and software,
providing a printable PDF of the docu-
mentation was essential. In-product on-
line help alone wouldn't meet the needs
of many of the products' users, espe-
cially those using the hardware-driven
products.
I set out on a mission: to research a
better way to provide user documenta-
tion. After surveying customers, review-
ing printing charges, and mapping the
intercom
documentation production and distri-
bution processes, the answer became
clear: provide frequently updated PDF
documentation on an existing company
Web site. The process made sense for
the customers and the technical writ-
ing team, but how would I convince
management? The sections below out-
line recommendations for promoting a
paperless documentation system within
your company.
Determine Customer Preferences
The most compelling reason for
changing a process in a customer-
centered company is listening to the
voice of the customer. What do custom-
ers really want? What type of documen-
tation will they use? The best way to find
out is to ask them.
Start by surveying a sample of custom-
ers. Gather names from internal groups
such as the project management team
to ensure a high response rate. Those
who work with customers often have the
most up-to-date customer contact infor-
mation, and they know which groups at
customer sites use the documentation.
You can also survey company employ-
ees who work directly with customers to
see what customers have been telling
them. It's always best to get feedback
directly from customers, but employees
can be an additional source of informa-
tion. The more feedback you can gath-
er, the better.
In my survey, customers said they
wanted flexibility and accessibility. The
majority of those surveyed said they
wanted electronic documentation they
could print and that was frequently up-
dated on the company Web site. Elec-
tronic distribution would allow custom-
ers to print the entire user guide or just
the sections they needed. It would also
allow them to print as many copies as
they needed. Once you determine what
customers want, you can begin to ex-
plore how meeting this need will help
your company.
Calculate Cost Savings
Printed documentation can be a huge
expense. Some companies, especially
larger ones, may not even know how
much they're spending each month
lmages.com/Punchstock

on printing user documentation. In my
case study, the figures for the company's
printing costs were astounding: more
than $16,000 a month for printing user
guides. In black and white. This figure
spoke for itself. Moving to a PDF solu-
tion on an existing Web site didn't cre-
ate any expenses for the company, and
it eliminated a huge one.
If you can prove such dramatic sav-
ings in printing charges, it's easy to
convince management to move to a pa-
perless system. Then you can leverage
these cost savings to request that your
company invest a much smaller sum
to purchase new software tools to en-
hance electronic documentation. This
allows a writing team to produce better
documentation—making even the cost
savings ultimately benefit the customer.
And learning new tools doesn't hurt
your resume.
Count Time Savings
Producing documentation the old-
fashioned way takes time. At my com-
pany, the technical writing team was
spending 300 hours per year on ad-
ministrative tasks related to publishing
printed documentation. This time was
spent burning master CDs and shipping
them to the company's offshore print-
ing facility. The forms that the writers
needed to complete for this process
were complicated and restrictive, mak-
ing the process time-consuming and
frustrating.
Calculate the time your writing team
spends on tasks related to printing docu-
mentation. You might be amazed byjust
how long these tasks take. Time tracking
tools like Track-It! {www.numarasoftware
.com) can be helpful, and even asking
writers to keep a log of how much time
they spend on printing-related tasks can
provide accurate information.
If you move to a paperless system,
use time savings the same way you can
use extra money—to improve the doc-
umentation. Allow writers to improve
their skill set. The extra time and money
might allow your writing team to learn
X M L or a new word processing or on-
line help tool. Writers could use the
time to enhance the documentation ed-
iting process or develop a company style
June 2008
guide. Today's technical writing tools
offer many possibilities.
Benefits for Other Employees
Moving to an electronic documenta-
tion process can offer benefits to a com-
pany's project managers or whoever is
responsible for ordering documenta-
tion and making sure customers receive
it.
The paper documentation-ordering
process for project managers at my
company included fourteen steps. It
involved a two-week lag time while the
offshore printer produced and shipped
user guides. Project managers who
waited until the last minute to think
about customer documentation ended
up printing the documentation in the
office and traveling with it themselves.
And the documents could be heavy.
In the paperless process, download-
ing documentation takes only four
steps. This new process means that proj-
ect managers no longer have to worry
about the documentation not arriving
on time or the customer losing the doc-
umentation. There's no longer a need
to order replacement copies. In addi-
tion, the searchable PDF makes it easier
for the project managers to find answers
to customer questions.
Talk to the people in your company
who deliver documentation to custom-
ers and map their process. You might
be surprised; in my study, what project
intercom
writing & editing
managers were supposed to do and what
they actually did sometimes differed.
See how your company's employees
would prefer to deliver documentation.
If they prefer an electronic process, this
is just one more bargaining tool you can
use with management.
Better Service
Remember: You're not eliminating
a service; you're adding a better one.
This point is key. When we rolled out
the new process, naysayers thought we
were slighting our customers by depriv-
ing them of hardcopy documentation.
Employees had to see the benefits of
the process before they could sell the
idea to customers. In fact, the new pro-
cess would mostly affect new customers,
so company employees were the main
group that needed to be convinced that
electronic documentation was better.
It takes time to convince those outside
the technical writing field of the benefits
of a paperless system. Keep your compa-
ny's employees informed. Send e-mails.
Conduct Web-based training sessions
to demonstrate new processes. Show
customer survey results and before-
and-after process maps for customers,
technical writers, and project managers.
Demonstrate how to use the new docu-
mentation system and provide a tutorial
for employees to refer to when needed.
Provide sample files showing the new
electronic format.
Convincing company employees that
electronic is best is a continual process.
Keep reinforcing the benefits. Write
articles in any company newsletters,
e-mails, or other forms of communica-
tion. Include FAQs, tips and tricks, and
instructions for using the new system.
Any new process involves change
management. More important than
convincing employees that electronic
documentation is superior is getting
them to accept change. And change is
essential as new technologies allow us to
better serve customers. ©
Lisa Earl (Lisa_M_Earl@yahoo.com) is a
member of the Pittsburgh Chapter STC. She
is a technical and freelance writer in western
Pennsylvania. She also organizes process-
improvement projects.
19
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