Re: Usability Professionals and Technical Communicators

Subject: Re: Usability Professionals and Technical Communicators
From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
To: "Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>, "'Dori Green'" <dgreen -at- associatedbrands -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:10:35 -0800

Well no, not really.

Mapping a company's business processes is only the tip
of the iceberg of what a business analyst does. A BA not
only determines how a process maps out, but also whether
and how it addresses needs, where it comes up short and
how to improve it. This requires a fairly deep understanding
of the industry and market a company is working with. If
someone wants me to write a process document, I tell them
I can observe their process in operation and document
what they're doing now, but what to do with that information
once it's written down is out of my area of expertise (the
only "business analysis" I ever present myself as able to
perform is one for a technical publications organization).
If they need more than an "as built" description of their
processes, I refer them to people I know who really are
qualified to be business analysts (some of them don't
write terribly well; I subcontract for them rewriting their
reports).

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
> I think that the same thing said of using technical writers as
> usability
> experts can be said of using technical writers as business analysts.
> I have
> had a few contracts that wound up being business analysis positions,
> but
> with the pay of a technical writer. "We need you to 'document,' but
> first
> you will need to analyze what we do so you can document it." So you
> need an
> analyst and you don't want to pay for one? That aggravates me, so now
> I'm a
> business analyst because that's what a lot of my jobs have turned
> into.

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RE: Usability Professionals and Technical Communicators: From: Lauren

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