This is a comprehensive list that presents the technical writer/information
designer position responsibilities as described by the company for
which I currently work.
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Generate
new content for assigned product areas to provide in-product,
self-service, and assisted support information that
helps people successfully use products. Serve as a core
member and/or leads project teams to generate new content
for a product or product variation, while additionally
devoting a significant portion of time to functional
leadership and setting strategic direction. |
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Research user needs and understand assigned
products. |
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Create new content using user interface
(UI) specifications and my own research. |
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Ensure compliance with
legal, style, and other corporate standards. |
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Collect content for product feature information,
making sure that information is relevant to the specific
feature and not redundant. |
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Analyze past versions of self-help and
suggests ways to restructure information to meet new user
needs. |
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Plan the information design deliverables
for assigned areas every release. Deliverables may represent
a variety of media. |
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When working with feature teams, influence
making the product "learnable" for new users
as well as productive for power users. |
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Provide input into templates, web page
look and feel, and document presentation. |
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Conceptualize the multiple necessary
deliverables as a cohesive end-product. |
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Create new content using UI specifications
and their own research as input. |
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Mentor other technical writers and support
co-workers. |
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Contribute to and maintain style guides
and guidelines for legal and other standards. |
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Define, coordinate, and evaluate information
deliverables produced by multiple sources. |
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Edit work of peers, subject matter experts
(SMEs), and technical writers. |
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Analyze existing information and mechanisms
for providing the information. Suggest ways to restructure
information to better meet user needs. |
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Gather and analyze customer feedback
through various mechanisms, such as usability sessions,
suggest improvements, and ensure that other team members
understand and work on implementing these recommendations. |
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When working with feature teams, ensure
the product is "learnable" for new users as
well as productive for power users. |
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Analyze self-help trends and proactively
plan and construct content that addresses anticipated
user needs. |
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Design and modify templates, web-page
look and feel, and document presentations |
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Act as the lead for an area of the product,
plan and estimate work for my team and manage the team's
schedule. |
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Influence the team on how to apply industry-wide
best practices and lessons learned to future initiatives. |
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Act as a subject matter expert in specific
products or technologies. |
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Collaborate and partner with other writers
and groups for information exchange and reduction of duplicate
efforts. |
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Provide guidance and review senior writers'
work for their areas of focus. Define and drive key Information
Design initiatives. |
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Mentor and support senior team members
and collaborate with co-workers at all levels of the organization
to achieve end-to-end quality in the customer's experience. |
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Arbitrate disagreements on project-related
issues (project issues, deliverables, etc.). |
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Identify new areas of opportunity that
provide high value and demonstrated client/customer return
on investment (ROI). Work closely with my manager to establish
team metrics. |
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Perform internal and external diagnostics
(market, and competitive analysis) to identify issues,
opportunities, best practices, and lessons learned. Apply
the derived insight to drive strategic direction across
multiple, complex projects that may involve multiple business
and functional groups. |
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Work closely with business managers
to ensure deliverables align with short and long term
business strategy. |
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Drives the development of mechanisms
for gathering feedback and the collection of customer
feedback and analysis. |
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User manuals and other related hard-copy documentation. |
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In-product Help systems and associated content. |
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Screenshots and images. |
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Template design and layout improvements. |
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In-product information beyond help (e.g. error
messages, wizard text, field labels). |
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Multi-media scripts (e.g. tutorials, support
actions). |
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Feature level planning documents (e.g. ID plans,
UISD, FRD, project schedules). |
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Updates to existing search mechanisms in the
documentation deliverables (e.g. knowledge maps, search keywords,
tags, thesaurus, best bets). |
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Suggestions for article-level and or topic-level
improvements based on VOC feedback (e.g. new trends, adjusted
procedures, new content). |
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End-to-end assessments and designs for Help
systems or other information structures |
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Provide input into user interface design, guiding
the team to produce user interfaces that are easy to learn. |
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Multi-media scripts (e.g. tutorials, support
actions). |
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Indexes for the information products. |
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Best practices gathered from reviews of multiple
sites, collections and Help systems. |
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Substantial information design improvements
across multiple, complex products that meet ease-of-use and
business metrics. |
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Suggestions
for long-range improvements in functional and industry strategy
based on customer feedback (e.g. new trends, suggest adjustments
to procedures, new content). |
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General technical and business knowledge sufficient
to understand all factors affecting project planning, execution,
and management. |
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Experience generating new content from scratch
by using resources such as UI specifications and my own research
as inputs. |
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Experience working with one or more of these
or similar technologies to produce content: HTML, DHTML, JavaScript,
XML (as appropriate to the job). |
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Working knowledge of assigned product area,
and ability to thoroughly explain product main features and
functionality. Ability to articulate user need relating to product
main features. |
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Experience developing end-user documentation
(online and hard copy). |
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Experience operating within highly-matrixed
organizations, collaborating with SMEs across organizational
boundaries. |
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Working knowledge of industry trends in Information
Design. Knowledge of design and composition of online documentation,
self-help, and printed materials that make up typical information
design deliverables. |
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Experience developing reliable schedules for
own work. Experience successfully delivering end-user documentation
products on time, within a high-tech environment. |
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Experience achieving significant outcomes through
indirect influence. |
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Advanced knowledge of industry trends in Information
Design and extensive practical experience applying this knowledge. |
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Experience leading multiple concurrent projects. |
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Experience successfully leading design projects
working across an information structure. |
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Expert-level knowledge of assigned product,
product area, or SKU and ability to thoroughly explain product
key features and functionality. |
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Basic understanding of competing products,
and ability to determine and explain pros and cons of competitor
solutions. |
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Experience managing multiple concurrent projects
across organizational boundaries, at all levels of the organization. |
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Strong
interpersonal skills. Work with others both within their team
and across organizational boundaries |
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When needed, provide functional leadership
on information projects within Information Design/Technical
Writing team. |
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Ensure strategy, direction and Information
design plan are reflected in the work of their teams. |
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Gather the right information to make timely,
effective decisions. Build shared vision by listening to feedback
from others and incorporates it into their recommendations or
decisions. |
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Understand the business and organizational
reasons driving specific changes. Use this understanding to
interpret change and applies the underlying principles to guide
my work. |
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Collaborate effectively with and influence
product managers, developers, QA resources, and others involved
in the project. |
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When needed, lead teams that develop major
recommendations and build shared vision with the key business
stakeholders. |
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Communicate strategy, direction and Information
Design plans effectively to all levels of the organization,
across organizational boundaries and to all sizes of audiences.
Ensure these are reflected in the work of their teams. |
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Capitalize on opportunities created by organizational
and operational changes. |
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Identify areas for improvement and solicit
ideas from external and internal stakeholders. |
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Assist in identifying skill-set gaps and the
recruiting, selection and training for other technical writers. |
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Make timely, effective decisions with less
than complete information. Influence others to support them.
Build shared vision by listening to feedback from others and
incorporating it into my recommendations or decisions. |
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Frame decisions well: have considered the
short and long term impact on the business and the potential
risks and have developed alternative approaches to consider,
including ways to mitigate the risks. |
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Collaborate effectively with and influences
peers and more senior individuals to solve complex problems
spanning their respective areas. Resolves project-related disagreement
with informed, rational debate. |
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Act as a key influencer driving needed change
by collaborating across organizational boundaries, at all levels
of the organization. |
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Drive consistency across deliverables and works
with the team to instill consistency across other products where
applicable. |
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When needed, leads cross-functional and cross-business
unit teams. |
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Typically work on multiple complex projects
with little or no direction. Responsible for ensuring all deliverables
are high quality. |
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Understand larger business and organization
needs and takes these into account when making decisions. |
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Communicate strategy, direction, and plans
effectively to all levels of the organization, across organizational
boundaries and to all sizes of audiences to ensure these are
reflected in the work of my team. |
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Help co-workers understand the context for
change. |
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Manage change influenced by internal, market,
and core competency factors across the business. |
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Have a strong understanding of the current
business climate and apply this knowledge to problem resolution. |
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Act as a role model for supporting change
initiatives and help positively influence team morale. |
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Apply advanced proofreading skills. Identifies
copy and substantive edits within my own work and the work of
others to eliminate defects delivered to the customer. |
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Combine all research and design recommendations
and technical constraints into a single solution that meets
business and customer objectives. Excellent verbal and written
communication skills. Written skills include excellent working
knowledge of grammatical principles and application. |
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Apply one or more of these or similar technologies
to developing content: HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, XML, Windows
Help tools (as appropriate to the job). |
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Design components of a documentation set. |
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Understand and concisely communicate about
products with simple to moderately complex technical structures
or business processes. |
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Understand and apply information design principles
across multiple delivery mechanisms within assigned areas of
responsibility. |
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Compare, contrast, and prioritize among alternative
approaches to meeting business and user requirements. |
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Quickly create reasonable estimates of schedules
and work plans for individual and team deliverables. |
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Understands top customer issues and presents
solutions to these issues through information design deliverables. |
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Drive to help others by partnering with internal
and external customers to create great customer solutions. |
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Create clearly documented personal goals, plans,
designs and results. |
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Communicate clearly to both technical and non-technical
audiences. |
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Communicate project goals so all project team
members understand the critical path between the project tasks
and business goals. |
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Understand and concisely communicate about
products with complex technical structures or business processes. |
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Operate independently and successfully interact
with senior management to help set strategic guidance. |
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Quickly create reasonable estimates of capital
requirements, schedules, human resource costs for project objectives. |
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Create schedules and track inputs, dependencies,
and deliverables for complex, multi-resource projects. |
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Review proposed architectural requirements
and user needs for quality and consistency with owned designs. |
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Anticipate customer issues and proactively
solve them before they impact the customer. |
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Measure customer feedback and apply information
accordingly. |
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Create presentations and communicates project
vision to work team. |
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Design multiple integrated doc components
or complete documentation sets. |
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Understand and apply information design principles
across multiple delivery mechanisms. Think architecturally across
an information set. |
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Quickly synthesize data and extrapolate to
effectively compare approaches optimize business interests. |
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Ensure all work across a project stays true
to higher-level requirements and optimize business interests. |
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Understand complex industry issues that affect
product deliverables, and address those issues through product
strategy. |
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Comfortably move between highly varying levels
of abstraction from business strategy to product strategy to
user data to high-level design concepts to detailed design solutions
to implementation. |
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Clearly document and communicate objectives,
requirements, strengths and weaknesses of design methods and
results at different levels of abstraction to both technical
and non-technical audiences. |
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Prioritize and plan schedules, estimate project
effort, develop processes for all design requirements, track
issues, conduct risk assessments, assign resources, and meet
deadlines with high quality work that meets business, user,
and design objectives. |
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Recognizes trends with customer issues and
drives change across an information set to proactively solve
the issue before the customer is impacted. Uses seasoned judgment
to propose innovative customer solutions. |
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Create presentations and communicate project
vision to large cross-functional audiences. |
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Design multiple integrated documentation components
or complete documentation sets. |
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Apply information design principles across
multiple delivery mechanisms. Think architecturally across an
information set. |
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Quickly synthesize data and extrapolate to
effectively compare approaches to optimize business interests. |
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Ensure all work across a project stays true
to higher-level requirements and all business interests. |
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Create shared vision among business, product,
and technology leaders on how the owned initiatives will contribute
to the execution of strategies. |
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Propose roadmaps for deliverables that balance
short- and long-term business considerations while taking
into account user and technical considerations.
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