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AI Summary
- Syed Haroon Shah, Senior Technical Writer at Edetek, shifted toward technical writing after product manuals and online help helped him use complex tools during his master’s thesis.
- With a petroleum and geoscience background, he created student manuals before working in oil and gas, pharmaceutical, government, health, and shipping industries.
- User manuals should reflect software functionality, business logic, and target audiences; involve QA and support teams; be procedural and visually enhanced; follow the Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC); and pass review cycles to become a single source of truth.
- Haroon recommends explaining applications from overall business logic and back-end processes to front-end functions, using tables, Excel files, visuals, diagrams, annotations, tips, notes, cautions, and examples. Authoring tools support glossaries and cross-linking.
- He also creates API documentation, deployment guides, system architecture documents, integration guides, and release notes. He recommends learning authoring tools and project management software.
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In our recent episode on the Knowledgebase Ninjas podcast, Syed Haroon Shah, Senior Technical Writer at Edetek, shared how a product’s user manual inspired him to shift his career toward technical writing. He also discussed the various types of user manuals and best practices for creating them.
Watch the Video Podcast here
About Syed
- Haroon’s LinkedIn
- Coming from a petroleum and geoscience background, he faced difficulties utilizing complex tools for his master’s thesis. He discovered online help, which led him to explore technical writing.
- Haroon initially started creating manuals for students, and later transitioned to a technical writer in the oil and gas industry. Since then, he has worked in various industries like pharmaceutical, government, health, and shipping.
Key Takeaways
- According to Haroon, while creating user manuals it is essential to understand the software and collaborate with QA and support teams to understand the basic functionality of the features. It is important to comprehend the business logic and target audience before writing.
- He mentioned that the User manuals should be procedural, visually enhanced, and follow the Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC). It should go through all review cycles for validation, becoming a single source of truth for internal and external stakeholders.
- “When creating user manuals, start by explaining the overall application, including business logic and back-end processes, followed by a detailed explanation of the front-end. Use visuals like tables and Excel files to illustrate data transformations and configurations. Explain the user interface, how to perform specific functions, and include tips, notes, cautions, and real-world examples to enhance understanding”, says Haroon.
- “To make user manuals interactive, use visuals, diagrams, and annotations. Authoring tools offer features like glossaries and cross-linking to enhance content readability and engagement.”, highlights Haroon.
- Haroon says, “In addition to user manuals, I create API documentation, deployment guides, system architecture documents, integration guides, and release notes for different audiences, from developers to end-users.”
- “As a technical writer, I see myself as a project manager over the next 5 or 10 years. Our involvement in Scrum meetings, planning, reviews, and agile methodology equips us well for this role. Technical writing is often underestimated; we are integral to the process from the beginning, not just at the end”, adds Haroon.
Rapid fire with Syed Haroon Shah
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Highly recommended resource
Technical writer groups in LinkedIn and participating in Tech Writers Summit
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One word that comes to your mind when you hear documentation.
Clarity
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A piece of advice you would give your 20-year-old self
Learn authoring tools and project management software
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