IT Documentation Midterm Revision Fall 2024-2025 PDF

IT Documentation Midterm Revision Fall 24-25 Dr. Ghada Afify 1  Soft Skills Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual interaction, career prospects and job performance....

IT Documentation Midterm Revision Fall 24-25 Dr. Ghada Afify 1  Soft Skills Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual interaction, career prospects and job performance. 2  Elements of Soft Skills 1. Communication skills 2. Time management 3. Organizational skills 4. Analytical skills 5. Problem solving 3  Technical Writing Technical writing involves communicating complex information to those who need it to accomplish some task or goal. 4 What is Software Documentation? In IT, software documentation can be described as information and details that describe the project to different stakeholders involved in a project. 5 Who Creates Software Documents? 6 Types of Software Documentation (SDLC) 7 Types of Software Documentation (SDLC) 1. User documentation: contains information to educate team members who will be using the software. 2. Planning documentation: Includes a detailed plan of the software development process that will be followed. 3. Standards documentation: describes the technical, security, and other standards that must be adhered to during the development process. 8 Types of Software Documentation (SDLC) 4. Process documentation: Describes each individual task that needs to be completed as well as the entire development process. 5. Estimate documentation: Contains details about the estimation process, the cost of each individual step, and a summary of the project budget. 6. Product documentation: Detailed information about the software product. 9 Types of Software Documentation (SDLC) 7. System documentation: Names the different components of the software system, describing their individual tasks and how they contribute to the final result. 8. Requirements documentation: Outlines the different elements that the software needs for its creation, operation, maintenance, and long-term success. 9. Metrics or KPI documentation: Documents information about the key performance indicators (KPIs) that help measure the performance of the platform. 10  Types of Software Documentation (SDLC) 10. Architecture and design documentation: This type of documentation provides user experience (UX) professionals with an overview of the software interface to help ensure a logical design. 11.End-user documentation: This is information for the individuals who use the actual software. This often includes OS requirements, installation instructions, and customer service contact information. 11 Types of Software Documentation (SDLC) 12. System admin documentation: System administrator documents tells your team how to handle potential setbacks by providing troubleshooting steps, FAQs, tutorials, and other information that helps system administrators leverage the software and manage their computer systems. 12 Software Documentation: Two Main Categories 13  Product Documentation Product documentation categories: 1. Developer documentation: used to document software requirements, design, architecture, and source code. It is created by dedicated technical writers or software developers during the software development process. 2. User documentation: provides information about installing, configuring, or using software. 14 Types of Developer Documentation 15  Types of Developer Documentation Software Requirements Specification (SRS) The software requirement specification lays out functional and non-functional requirements. 16  Types of Developer Documentation Software Design Description (SDD) The SDD contains the software design and overall architecture. The SDD helps to ensure that the whole project team, including the software developers, are on the same page. The SDD also helps to ensure that all risks and assumptions are considered. 17  Types of Developer Documentation UX Design Documentation UX is the acronym for “user experience”. We refer to how people interact with a product. In the digital design world, UX Design refers to everything that affects a user’s interaction with a digital product. 18  Types of Developer Documentation Product Roadmap The product roadmap contains a plan of action for how a software product will evolve over time. It serves as a guide for both business and technical teams. 19  Types of Developer Documentation API Documentation API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface. An API is a software intermediary that allows two applications to interface with each other. 20 Product Documentation: Main Categories 21 Types of User Documentation 22  Types of User Documentation How-to Guide A how-to guide contains step-by-step instructions to help users perform specific tasks such as installing the software, upgrading the software, and activating the software. 23  Types of User Documentation Troubleshooting Guide A troubleshooting guide contains a list of common problems along with step-by-step solutions. FAQ Pages FAQs are answers to questions that have been either asked on a regular basis or that you expect your users to ask at some point. 24  Types of User Documentation External Knowledge Base A knowledge base is a library of information about your software. Its purpose is to make it easy for people to find solutions to their problems without having to ask for help. Knowledge bases use a combination of text, image, and video-based content. An external knowledge base – also known as a customer-facing knowledge base – is where customers can go to learn anything they’d ever need to know about a company’s software-related products and services. 25 Software Documentation Goals Developer Documentation Goals: 1. Ensure Software Success 2. Unify Product-Related Information 3. Facilitate Knowledge Sharing 4. Improve Future Projects 26 Software Documentation Goals User Documentation Goals: 1. Satisfy End-Users 2. Explain Product Functionality 3. Help Resolve Common Problems 4. Reduce Support Costs 5. Drive Sales 27 Document Preparation Document preparation is the process of creating a document and formatting it for publication. The three phases of document preparation are: 1. Document creation The initial input of the information in the document. This is supported by word processors and text formatters, table and equation processors, drawing and art packages. 28 Document Preparation 2. Document polishing This process involves improving the writing and presentation of the document to make to make it more understandable and readable. 3. Document production This is the process of preparing the document for professional printing. 29 Document Preparation Phases 30 Document Preparation Modern word processing systems are integrated packages of software tools that support all parts of document preparation process. 31 Document Management Document management systems: integrate the storage of the documents and the maintenance of document information. Document management systems also include version management facilities so that different document versions may be maintained. 32  Online Documentation The main advantages with online documentation are: 1. Its accessibility. 2. Built-in search facilities can be used to locate information quickly. 3. There is no possibility of picking up out-of-date documentation. 33 Steps to Create Technical Documentation Step 1: Do research and create a “Documentation Plan” Step 2: Structure and design Step 3: Create the content Step 4: Deliver and test Step 5: Create a maintenance and update schedule 34 Dr. Ghada Afify