Month: June 2008

bookmark_borderYour publishing model is broken

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When do you publish (release) documentation? Inline with the latest version of your product I’d expect as that’s the traditional model and, and believe me I hate to be the one to break this to you, that’s no longer acceptable.

Please don’t shoot the messenger, it’s not my fault, if you are going to blame anyone, blame Google. Or perhaps Tim Berners-Lee.

Now, to say that the traditional “publish alongwith product versions” model is broken is a bit of a sweeping statement and of course it still has a place, will be and should be followed but have you ever taken a close look at the information you provide? Is it ALL based only on new features?

Maybe it’s just me (hey, it frequently is) but a lot of the information produced is sensitive to version not time, and as such can be published as and when it becomes available providing it has appropriate meta tags. Why do we wait until a product release is due to publish non-version specific information?

Of course there are a multitude of reasons why this may not be valid for you, but having looked long and hard at the information my team produce, I’m increasingly finding that a lot of it can be published instantly and, given that most computer/internet literate people are used to demanding information immediately (thanks Google!) then this at least goes partway to meeting that need. We are lucky in that we have control over where and how our information is published, and we’re slowly moving away from a document and release centric system to a more dynamic and immediate method.

After all, if our customers want information, and our job is to provide them with information, why are we waiting?

bookmark_borderSudden need for habit

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Everything happens at once. It’s always the way of these things, the calendar remains empty until, all of a sudden you realise you have a concert and a leaving do to attend one evening, and a day/evening session in the pub the next day.

Such is the case this coming Friday, Radiohead gig at Glasgow Green on Friday evening the same night my boss is having his leaving do (he’s sharing it with another member of staff who is leaving, double trouble!). I’m really looking forward to both, and only hope that I’m not so completely soaked that they don’t let me into the pub later on…

It’s also approaching the end of our release cycle at work, so things are starting to ramp up there. I’m launching a new website as well as writing up some of the new featuress in the product.

And as usual – why does my brain do this? why does it wait until I’m stupidly busy – I’ve also started looking at resurrecting Scottish Blogs. Hopefully I can build it using something that requires a lot less effort and administration that the previous, hand-coded, version required as I just don’t have the bandwidth at the moment.

One thing I’ve been struggling to do is get into a writing habit. I’ve never really had one for this website, but as I now have two blogs, and I contribute to the ISTC newsletter every month (and occasionally to the quarterly magazine), it’s something I really should try and foster. Perhaps moving the Playstation upstairs to where the computer is (running it through the monitor) was a bad idea after all..

Still, it’s not all bad. I’ve started doing a little exercise fairly regularly (physio stuff as well as a some work on flexibility and core strength) and I’ve managed to rediscover my reading mojo a little, so if nothing else I’m starting to find a balance. Of course all of the above is currently impacted by a certain football tournament but that’ll be over soon.

bookmark_borderSign reads: Occupied

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Gosh the football is good, isn’t it. Way better than a World Cup, not as long winded as an entire season and, a few games aside (I’m looking at you France), bloody top quality entertainment.

Apparently there are other things that can be watched on TV at the moment but, seriously, why would you? In saying that there is still plenty of other things currently vying for my attentions.

Friday night we are out for a quiet dinner to lightly celebrate Louise’s birthday.

Saturday morning we’ve both got appointments to see the dental hygienist (the price of paying for your dental care) and then we are off to visit Peggy. Except we aren’t REALLY visiting Peggy, we are all about the ickle fwuffy ducklings!!

Sunday is Louise’s birthday proper and no doubt some people will be popping in to tell her how old she now is and that it’s “all downhill from here”.

Zip through the next week (although there are a few changes happening at work just now, plenty of gossip and rumour, which is always fun) and on Friday I’ll be one of many thousands standing about at Glasgow Green in glorious sunshine listening to the best band in the world (well, they will be that day), and after the Radiohead gig, if I can still walk, I’ll catch up with some people from work to say goodbye to two work colleagues that are leaving.

There are a couple of things occupying my mind at the moment though, namely the fact that our Sky+ box failed to record a few things last week. And by a few games I mean the 4-1 game between Holland and France! It should be fixed now (turn it off and turn it on again) but I swear to god if I miss any more football I’ll… I’LL… well I’ll probably just phone up and order a new Sky HD box.

bookmark_borderPromoting DITA without promoting DITA

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Recently Scott Abel posted a heartfelt plea to get people all psyched up about how to better promote DITA to the rest of the world. He backs the idea of the DITA Adoption Technical Committee, stating that:

“we need excellent communicators with the gumption, know-how, and network to get the word out about the many ways DITA impacts the world and those who live in it.”

I’m a fan of DITA and as I read his post I could feel myself getting quite excited, he makes some excellent points about finding real world examples of the benefit DITA can bring but something just doesn’t quite fit. It’s taken me a while to get my head around this but, isn’t a standard supposed to be a technical implementation detail, not the main focus of life changing events? Ahhh but wait, Scott agrees:

“DITA cannot be the focus of DITA adoption and publicity efforts.”

OK, so we can’t focus on DITA itself and, as Scott rightly points out, the software vendors will soon turn discussions away from DITA and towards their own feature set, so we can’t look there for an example either. In fact it’s not until the latter half of the post that Scott really hits on what he would like us to do, and in my opinion the following sentence is the key to his entire argument:

“Let’s strip away all the noise that prevents normal humans from understanding what we technology addicts find so wonderful about DITA, XML, content reuse, content management, dynamic content, personalization, and so on. … The focus has to be on the human impact. How does DITA help make the world a better place? How does it make it possible for humans to interact with one another? How will it help everyday humans in their everyday lives? How can it help governments better serve their citizens?”

Big questions.

Whilst Scott is aiming at a top-down view of the world, there are lessons there for those of us who are trying to push these things upwards. Selling DITA as the fundamental part of a single source solution now seems a little odd, particularly when most business cases are focussed on ROI and the whys and wherefores surrounding the choice of tooling, so if you can detach the tool from the business case, and focus thinking on the benefits of DITA (rendering the tooling generic rather than specialised) you can start to really crack the story behind how adopting DITA as a content standard will benefit the customers of your company, THEN you have a much more powerful argument.

So, if anyone has any answers to those big questions, do let me know…

bookmark_borderLet's Dance

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Despite having been blogging for some years now, I still put myself under some weird pressure to post every day or so and as such I have developed a dance I like to call the “Start Stop two-step”.

It’s quite simple and I’m sure many my fellow bloggers have mastered it already, but if you are new to the world of ballroom dancing then here are some instructions.

Gentlemen, prepare the floor to ensure your partner doesn’t slip or trip. Ladies (or Gentlemen dance partners) whilst you are waiting it is customary to prepare some post-dance refreshments, a stiff gin, a cold beer, or perhaps big mug of tea. Whatever tickles your wotsit.

Floor preparation is crucial, and you really shouldn’t rush this stage, so make sure you have an Idea ready, as well as an empty place into which the Idea will flow as you smoothly spin and twirl across the dancefloor.

OK, we are ready to begin. Please assume the position, elbows slightly bent, fingers hovering over the keyboard. Take a deep breath, don’t rush, and don’t worry if you falter at first, one of the fundamental reasons for this dance is to help you overcome your nerves and focus your brain.

Ready? Start typing, don’t pause if you lose your bearings or your Idea suddenly disappears, it will return eventually. Instead let your fingers alight gently on each key, deftly picking at the threads of your Idea, helping it to spiral across the dancefloor until it lands, sated and breathless on tiptoes.

Or, you know, you could just come up with a really crap metaphor to try and explain why you are struggling to focus on your writing. That may be easier.

(note to self: when choosing a metaphor, pick a subject you know something about… )

bookmark_borderHi there

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A quick welcome to anyone visiting from the ISTC Communicator magazine. I feel a little spoiled getting two mentions in subsequent pages (10 & 12 if you are wondering) but I’m not really complaining.

Over the past year or so I’ve definitely got the feeling that the ISTC is changing, and it certainly feels like a more modern and dynamic organisation than it has seemed to be in the past. Perhaps that’s natural, but it’s amazing how little things like a redesign magazine and newsletter, and hopefully a new design for the website, can refocus the energies of those involved.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by, there are plenty of links and opinions to be found in the archives (scroll down a bit, they are on the right), and here are a few of the more popular posts:

Or perhaps you just want to download the RSS feeds.