The Strategic Role of Information Development in Continuous Delivery SREYA DUTTA | ASAD HALIM Oracle Applications Cloud © 2016, STC India chapter

Introduction to continuous delivery Agenda Introduction to continuous delivery Oracle Applications Cloud case study Challenges and recommendations Discussion! © 2016, STC India chapter

Deliver user assistance that maximizes customer value Key Objectives Deliver user assistance that maximizes customer value Be an integral part of the development team from inception to delivery Optimize tools, processes, and infrastructure to support this © 2016, STC India chapter

CONTINUOUS DELIVERY: Setting the Context Production, testing, and release in short and predictable cycles What is continuous delivery? Continuous Delivery Release Build Test Deploy How can I contribute as an Information Developer? Continuous delivery: Predictable and sustainable cadence of product or service upgrades Contribution of Information Development: Facilitate product upgrades by communicating changes, new features, and best practices Communicate constant product changes; facilitate customer adoption

Development for Continuous Delivery The Agile Scrum development methodology enables us… We all know what Agile development is. Even if we haven’t worked with a scrum team ourselves, we all understand the general principles. © 2016, STC India chapter

Focus on critical content Value-Driven development Scope Fixed Estimated Resources Waterfall Time Fixed Estimated Resources Agile Time Scope Waterfall type project management works well for well defined processes, for example, in manufacturing of FMCG. Software development has many more variables. In Agile, scope is the only variable. So, in information development, we must focus on the most critical user assistance deliverables that bring customer value, that is, deliverables that can give maximum bang for the buck. Focus on critical content

Oracle Applications Cloud Case STUDY © 2016, STC India chapter

Background ORACLE CLOUD PLATFORM APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT Systems Management Architects and IT Ops INTEGRATION MOBILE CONTENT AND PROCESS BUSINESS ANALYTICS Data Management A large enterprise with diverse tools, processes, cultures, and many customers Incrementally deliver functionality in a predictable cadence Change tools, processes, and standards to communicate constantly and consistently with customers A large enterprise with diverse tools, processes, team cultures, and many customers Must deliver small increments of product functionality in a predictable cadence Change tools, processes, and standards to ensure consistency across deliverables, and constant communication to customers

Changing Expectations Review Label Embed Help Review Message Review Label The role of the information developer is becoming more challenging, requiring high precision in the choice of words. The current age demands new and simplified look and feel for applications. The designs are more visual, have little space for text, and must work for desktop and mobile devices at the same time. This is where information developers must put on the minimalism hat and, with product owners, arrive at precise labels and messages for display on the UI. Information developers must take the extra time to influence design, provide the non-technical point of view, and be the voice of the customer.

Need to Push Critical help to users This is a patented design of pushing contextual information to users. It enables users to: Read (or view) help right on the UI Change the help as they see fit © 2016, STC India chapter

Embracing the Change Participate in development from inception to delivery Transform tools and processes to: Align user assistance with product delivery Support decision making by providing critical information Provide channels for customer contact Deliverables Presence Infrastructure On the previous slide, we indicated that our focus is now on language on the UI, UI-based help, and overall UX. To support this, we must work as integral members of the development team (scrum team). Also, we must transform our tools and processes (and philosophy!). The expectation from us is that we will: Deliver the most important help (apart from the UI-based help) in line with product delivery Provide key information (wherever possible, directly on the UI) to support customer decision making during product implementation and upgrades Provide multiple channels for customers to gain information

Presence from Inception to Delivery Features in Design Repository Feature Descriptions Release Documentation Potentially Shippable Product Application (including UI help) Backlog Development (includes user assistance) by Sprint UA: User Assistance Single design repository used for: Identifying the most valuable features that customers will use 90% of the time and moving them to the product backlog Formalizing the feature names and descriptions that will be used in release documentation So, information developers wear two hats: Scrum team member: Like other team members, information developers and managers review and approve features Consultant: Work with product owners to finalize feature names and descriptions that can be used directly in release documentation So, information developers are expected to use their language expertise to help product owners articulate how features will really add value to the target user. UA and training

Constant Communication Development by Sprint Discuss UI text, user assistance requirements Sprint Planning Design reviews, story pointing (including information development effort), discussions Prepare for delivery Complete UA analysis, code UI text, including UI help Constant Communication Sprint Demo Verify definition of done Sprint! Code, test cases, User assistance analysis Verify UI text was coded Write critical help Done? Code, testing, automation, help analysis complete Almost done demo

Centralized tools and Infrastructure Centrally-Administered Review Tools Agile User Assistance Analysis Quality Centrally-Administered Authoring Tools Modular and Automated Delivery Review Use centralized tools to create, reviews, and code all UI text Refer to examples on “Story of Changing Expectations” Analysis Manage user assistance analysis within Agile process management tools Generating user assistance design documents aligned with Agile tools such as Jira. Authoring Use centrally administered authoring tools Delivery Deliver small chunks of modular content iteratively Automate content creation and delivery; for example, developer and security documentation Quality Automate quality checks Accessibility, translatability, structure, using in-house tools and Acrolinx, schematron Same in-house tools used for UI text and our user assistance © 2016, STC India chapter

Confluence/JIRA-Based Agile Help Analysis It is in our interest to use the tools that the development team is using. Why? To integrate seamlessly with application development Reduce redundant work Documenting and tracking user assistance stories and providing status to the scrum team Completing formal user assistance designs Reporting status to our management For example, where our development teams use JIRA, we perform user assistance using documentation tasks, and then use a JIRA report to create a consolidated user assistance design document by sprint or release for reviews and approvals. © 2016, STC India chapter

Modularizing Content http://fusionhelp.oracle.com Plan self contained topics that provide maximum value Focus on a specific task, decision, or concept Don’t assume users are reading our content in sequence © 2016, STC India chapter

Automating Content Creation and Delivery http://docs.oracle.com Developer and technical documentation is automated wherever possible. © 2016, STC India chapter

Change mindset, both ours and of development teams! Challenges Issue Impact Constantly changing scope Very little time for extensive planning and help analysis Minimal design documentation IDs required to write content based on working software Constant upgrades Customers require immediate and consistent information Short deliverable cycle Traditional forms of help too elaborate to keep up with product delivery The biggest challenge is changing our mindset! Change mindset, both ours and of development teams!

Recommendations Recommendation Description Embrace change Take the lead as communicators; be the voice of the application Engage actively in product design Influence product development where possible; add value by providing the customer’s point of view Focus on critical communication Embrace minimalism and focus on value. Prioritize delivery of what’s critical over end-to-end documentation

Our role must evolve to align with these changes Final takeaways! User expectations about product experience, delivery, and information are changing Our role must evolve to align with these changes We can maximize customer value by: Taking advantage of being an integral part of the scrum team Leveraging our expertise as language experts and focusing on delivering critical information The inherent collaborative nature of Scrum methodology is a boon for information developers. Take advantage of being an integral part of the scrum team along with other disciplines. Our role is strategic because we communicate key information about product upgrades and keep customers informed about constant changes to the application.

What’s your experience of continuous delivery? Discussion What’s your experience of continuous delivery? What are the main challenges you face? How are you resolving them?