Libby Craver to Lead BA and Training Efforts for SharePoint 2010 Project

Posted by Libby Craver

Mar 2

Libby Craver, owner of Written Designs, has accepted an engagement to lead the business analysis and training efforts for a company-wide SharePoint 2010 implementation for a global company with US headquarters in Franklin, TN.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity to be part of a large-scale SharePoint 2010 implementation,” Libby explains. “This client has some aggressive and progressive goals for their 2010 SharePoint environment. I’m looking forward to digging in, getting the project moving and coordinating with their global teams in France and Japan.”

“This is also a big step forward for Written Designs,” Libby continues. “It’s an 18-month engagement and we’re going to have some ‘growing pains’ as we adjust schedules so I can focus the majority of my time and effort on this project. I ask that our clients be patient with us during this transition. There may be a few hiccups at first, but I have no doubts we’ll get in the new rhythm of things.”

During this transition phase, Written Designs will focus primarily on supporting their existing customer base on small writing and design projects. We will be temporarily putting all on-site consulting services on hold. For new clients, we will do our best to try to fit small writing and design projects into our current production schedule.

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Filed under: Media Releases

When it Comes to Color, Simple is Better

Posted by Libby Craver

Feb 28

Spring has arrived in middle Tennessee. This week’s warmer weather and sunshine has the trees, bushes and flowers bursting as they get ready to bloom. As I drove around town this morning admiring the very early bloomers, I was struck by how simple yet masterful Mother Nature handles color. Trees generally don’t have different colored flowers. They have a base color (green) then two accent colors – bark (generally brown) and flowers (either pink, yellow, purple, etc.) It got me thinking about how color is used (and often misused) in documentation and training.

Color is one of those elements that will make or break you. Today’s audiences need color more than ever before because our society is permeated in it. Yet, too much color, the wrong color or the mis-use of color will distract, confused and often drive readers away. So how do you combat that?

Keep it simple, like Mother Nature. You want color to enhance your publication, not detract from it. Here are a few quick tips we use when working with color. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Design Fundamentals, Documentation Fundamentals, Instructional Design

Standardizing Your Documentation Set

Posted by Libby Craver

Mar 15

“Can we change this document type?” was the comment I recently heard from a project manager during a weekly status meeting. “I know that’s the type we’ve used for all the other documents, but some of our users for this project call this document something else. Maybe we should try to align the terminology with theirs for this project.”

At first listen, I cringed internally at the suggestion but smiled and quickly planned my reply. “Well, it’s a good suggestion, but I’ll need to take this back to the department to discuss that change. We’re beginning the process of standardizing the types of documents we release, so any change to our current document types need to be approved by our department first.” The PM was a bit frustrated because she figured it was a lost cause and wouldn’t go any further. After the meeting, I pulled her aside to further explain our reasoning for not changing document types on a project by project basis – long-term it causes confusion for the user and makes the documentation set overall much more difficult to manage and standardize. Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Documentation Fundamentals, Technical Writing

As a Technical Communicator, I … Facilitate Collaboration

Posted by Libby Craver

Feb 23

Ever since I chose to pursue a career in technical communication (at the time simply called Technical Writing), I’ve been very interested in how we as communicators add value to an organization. It was the topic of my final project to get my degree and a concept I’ve pursued at each organization I’ve worked for or consulted with.

Recently, I’ve been engaged with a training and documentation department at a large healthcare provider out of Nashville, TN. Like many large organizations, the learning department within this organization is struggling to identify how to engage in more a meaningful way with the various project teams. I am specifically helping them to understand how to better utilize their documentation staff. Since many of the issues I’m helping this organization work through relate to increasing the value their writers add to the organization, I thought I would share some of our challenges and successes! Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Learning & Development, Technical Writing

Power Publications: One Document, Multiple Uses

Posted by Libby Craver

Jul 6

In today’s corporate culture, managers and executives are looking for more and more ways to minimize costs and maximize output. When it comes to technical publications (both print and interactive electronic), writers and designers need to think outside the box to author and design materials to suit a wide variety of uses.

Long gone are the days where you had a separate user manual (for reference), training manual (for users taking a class), quick reference guide (to use as a desk reference), governance policy, etc. Today, one publication or e-learning course should satisfy at least two or more training and knowledge transfer criteria. So how do you do this?

First, think about how each different type of publication will be used. To continue with my earlier example, user manuals are most often large, comprehensive reference manuals. Users go to them when they can’t figure out how to perform a specific topic. Sometimes new users are instructed to “read” the whole manual before they begin a job or task. (We all know users rarely read these publications cover to cover!) Read the rest of this entry

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Filed under: Instructional Design, Technical Writing
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