Comments on: An Unexpected Example of Social Documentation http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/07/an-unexpected-example-of-social-documentation/ Social Media Analytics Done Right Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:30:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/ hourly 1 By: A Few Software Tips to Make Technical Writing Easier | I'd Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/07/an-unexpected-example-of-social-documentation/comment-page-1/#comment-115 A Few Software Tips to Make Technical Writing Easier | I'd Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:33:44 +0000 http://blog.lugiron.com/?p=302#comment-115 <p>[...] LugIron recently praised a video response that a vendor made to a customer, calling it “an outstanding example of Social Documentation at work.” The customer loved the video, especially given that it was personally created by the company founder. [...]</p> [...] LugIron recently praised a video response that a vendor made to a customer, calling it “an outstanding example of Social Documentation at work.” The customer loved the video, especially given that it was personally created by the company founder. [...]

]]> By: “Social Documentation” — Cool but Problematic | I'd Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/07/an-unexpected-example-of-social-documentation/comment-page-1/#comment-114 “Social Documentation” — Cool but Problematic | I'd Rather Be Writing - Tom Johnson Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:30:16 +0000 http://blog.lugiron.com/?p=302#comment-114 <p>[...] I hadn’t heard of the term “social documentation” before, but it describes the Twitter responses, video replies, and other social media formats that support centers use to provide responses to technical problems customers ask about. This post by LugIron shows an example of a video response. The problem with social documentation is that, if it’s not incorporated into the documentation, the support center will have to respond again — and again and again. So while it may seem powerful and make the customer feel like a king, a better solution that benefits the rest of the customer base would be to update the documentation (and perhaps include a video in the documentation) and send the customer that link. Maybe they’re already doing that. Related Posts:Identity and Authority. Why the Foundation of Documentation is Changing. | The LugIron Software BlogGrowing Happy Users - One Customer at a Time.Does Your Documentation Suck?The Name of Your Department Does MatterWrite Answers, Not DocumentationAKPC_IDS += "4592,"; Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]</p> [...] I hadn’t heard of the term “social documentation” before, but it describes the Twitter responses, video replies, and other social media formats that support centers use to provide responses to technical problems customers ask about. This post by LugIron shows an example of a video response. The problem with social documentation is that, if it’s not incorporated into the documentation, the support center will have to respond again — and again and again. So while it may seem powerful and make the customer feel like a king, a better solution that benefits the rest of the customer base would be to update the documentation (and perhaps include a video in the documentation) and send the customer that link. Maybe they’re already doing that. Related Posts:Identity and Authority. Why the Foundation of Documentation is Changing. | The LugIron Software BlogGrowing Happy Users – One Customer at a Time.Does Your Documentation Suck?The Name of Your Department Does MatterWrite Answers, Not DocumentationAKPC_IDS += “4592,”; Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

]]> By: Louis Marascio http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/07/an-unexpected-example-of-social-documentation/comment-page-1/#comment-128 Louis Marascio Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:00:24 +0000 http://blog.lugiron.com/?p=302#comment-128 Robby, answers from customer support are documentation. The quality might be debatable, but some documentation is better than no documentation. You're right about how Pelotonics could take a step further. Robby, answers from customer support are documentation. The quality might be debatable, but some documentation is better than no documentation. You're right about how Pelotonics could take a step further.

]]> By: marascio http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/07/an-unexpected-example-of-social-documentation/comment-page-1/#comment-100 marascio Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:00:24 +0000 http://blog.lugiron.com/?p=302#comment-100 Robby, answers from customer support are documentation. The quality might be debatable, but some documentation is better than no documentation. You're right about how Pelotonics could take a step further. Robby, answers from customer support are documentation. The quality might be debatable, but some documentation is better than no documentation. You're right about how Pelotonics could take a step further.

]]> By: robbyslaughter http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/07/an-unexpected-example-of-social-documentation/comment-page-1/#comment-99 robbyslaughter Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:30:05 +0000 http://blog.lugiron.com/?p=302#comment-99 It's an intriguing approach, but it's not a particularly good example of documentation. Answering a specific question asked by a single person is just customer support. It's good to capture this somewhere publicly <em>just in case</em> someone else has the same question later, but mostly this is just a friendly talking-head video response that would normally be enclosed in an email or on a forum. <br><br>If you're not intimately familiar with the interface and the question, this video is tough to process. At least with text, you can scan quickly up and down.<br><br>However, Pelotonics could do something <em>really amazing</em> if they were to use video more effectively. What if the company founder started out the clip with by stating the customers name, rephrasing their question and providing a simple verbal answer, and then cut to screencast to demo that feature? This would be helpful for a broader range and actually leverage the power of video to inform as well as build relationships. The vendor could provide a library of videos---or even encourage customers to submit their own videos as part of a wiki-like service. It's an intriguing approach, but it's not a particularly good example of documentation. Answering a specific question asked by a single person is just customer support. It's good to capture this somewhere publicly just in case someone else has the same question later, but mostly this is just a friendly talking-head video response that would normally be enclosed in an email or on a forum.

If you're not intimately familiar with the interface and the question, this video is tough to process. At least with text, you can scan quickly up and down.

However, Pelotonics could do something really amazing if they were to use video more effectively. What if the company founder started out the clip with by stating the customers name, rephrasing their question and providing a simple verbal answer, and then cut to screencast to demo that feature? This would be helpful for a broader range and actually leverage the power of video to inform as well as build relationships. The vendor could provide a library of videos—or even encourage customers to submit their own videos as part of a wiki-like service.

]]> By: sholarpk http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/07/an-unexpected-example-of-social-documentation/comment-page-1/#comment-97 sholarpk Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:01:09 +0000 http://blog.lugiron.com/?p=302#comment-97 Ease of integration of a new point-specific video depends upon how much "context" was included in the point-specific answer. Users can work with a complex product in very different ways. A given user can reach the point of having a question based on a unique "path" through the product's features. In order to answer a given user's question on a specific feature, the responder probably takes into account how the user got to that feature and what the user's trying to accomplish. So the responder's answer is probably going to include some "context"--or background information (that is, prerequisite knowledge) about that product feature--that might not pertain to other users' "path" through the product. This "context" issue--that is, how much prerequisite information to include in a given topic while still retaining the topic's reuse across multiple document types--is one that I haven't seen addressed by the proponents of structured topic authoring. <br><br>Paul K. Sholar (Twitter @bkwdgreencomet) Ease of integration of a new point-specific video depends upon how much “context” was included in the point-specific answer. Users can work with a complex product in very different ways. A given user can reach the point of having a question based on a unique “path” through the product's features. In order to answer a given user's question on a specific feature, the responder probably takes into account how the user got to that feature and what the user's trying to accomplish. So the responder's answer is probably going to include some “context”–or background information (that is, prerequisite knowledge) about that product feature–that might not pertain to other users' “path” through the product. This “context” issue–that is, how much prerequisite information to include in a given topic while still retaining the topic's reuse across multiple document types–is one that I haven't seen addressed by the proponents of structured topic authoring.

Paul K. Sholar (Twitter @bkwdgreencomet)

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