© 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions Monalisa Sen STC India Chapter, 2012 Social Documentation-The Era of Interaction

Objectives 1 Understand the features of social documentation Explore the reasons for increased popularity of social documentation Explore a case study Understand the types of social documentation Understand the role of a technical writer in social documentation Identify the limitations of social documentation

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 2 What is Social Documentation? Based on Web 2.0 approaches to capture user-generated content Uses social networking sites, social media sites and wiki- based sites Identifies and offers real-time solutions to queries of the audience

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 3 Why Social Documentation? Social documentation uses cumulative knowledge to fill information gaps and address user-specific issues Social documentation leads to human interaction and collaboration Content is user-centric since it is created and owned by users

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 4 Types of Social Documentation The recent trend is to merge social media, social networking, and Web 2.0 into a general category called the ‘Social Web’. Enables users to edit pages and leave comments Encourages interaction between audience and author, offering an opportunity to include the user’s perspective Enables creation of a knowledge community through real-time discussions

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 5 Role of a Technical Writer Moderator: Being a language expert, responsible for monitoring information being shared, conducting peer review and acting as a community manager Content Curator: Being a subject matter expert wearing the user’s shoes, responsible for contextualization and organization of information

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 6 Case Study Cognizant’s proprietary project management and delivery engagement application used for tracking projects A project is considered a community Interactive Help enables optimization of the tool’s usage

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions Requirement: Align the Help with features of social media/networking to provide easy access to information Solution: How do I…section based on web site Help like Gmail with pages like “What would you like to do” First-time User? section designed to provide a high-level understanding of the application and assistance to the first-time users What’s New? section designed for quick access to the latest updates and features in the application, inspired by web sites like Gmail Flow Diagrams linked to the relevant tasks, inspired by visual Wiki Post your Queries section provided a link to the communities where the user can post the queries

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 8 Snapshots

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions Requirement: Apps-based Help, improving social interactivity and providing a Help system for individual applications Solution: After research across various web sites such as Amazon, Gmail, Facebook, Google Apps store and other web-based services, the upcoming trends and practices were identified and are being implemented in the form of a Help Centre Video-based Assistance: app-specific interactive training videos and Online Help Minimalizing Content on the Help: screenshot-intensive and task-oriented guidance handbook Getting Started: for first-time users FAQ Link to Community Forum: within the Help to raise a query Rating: enable users to rate comments

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 10 Snapshots

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 11 Limitations of Social Documentation Maintaining accuracy Formatting content and avoiding repetition Implementing standardization and consistency Motivating contribution from users Archiving

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 12 Conclusion Transition from a didactic to a conversational tone Shift from information to interaction Content is increasingly user-driven Use of social media to get closer to the users Less writing and more curating

l © 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions 13 Questions

© 2012, Cognizant Technology Solutions Thank you