Documentation: dynamic growth
The extent of user documentation at efcom has increased tenfold over the past 10 years. This is due to the continuous development of our software features and interfaces which must be documented accordingly. Software manufacturers in Germany are obligated by law to document their products for their customers. Ultimately, this is about areas such as IT security, availability and data protection. The software documentation is also part of the active emergency preparedness concept.
How did it all start with the documentation at efcom? In the beginning, only elementary descriptions for individual areas of the application were available. Due to both the increasing complexity of the software and the rising number of customers, it was quickly decided that the documentation processes must be framed in a more professional manner. This was the starting signal for the launch of our internal documentation department, which now has three competent colleagues. Their tasks include not only the continuous updating and creation of user documentation, but also the translation into several languages. “With the internationalization of our products, the translation of the software and its corresponding documentation has become indispensable,” emphasizes Silvia Canales.
Generally, the documentation at efcom consist of an Online Help for all basic functions and definitions as well as numerous additional documentations. The latter comprise detailed descriptions of special features and interfaces. This way the users can inform themselves easily and quickly without the need to contact the support at efcom first. Ultimately, it is extremely important for software companies to keep the amount of externally provided documentation within reasonable limits—for reasons of profitability, but also usability. Too much documentation can quickly become counterproductive if scarce resources are overused and users are “overwhelmed” with unnecessary details for everyday operation. Too little documentation, on the other hand—as already described at the beginning—may undermine legal requirements; moreover, no customer will agree to inadequate documentation.
What characterises a good documentation? “In addition to a meaningful introduction to the topic, it should enable the user to set up the functionalities of the application in a useful way to be able to use them in day-to-day business. Furthermore, we make sure that the wording is understandable and clear, which in turn contributes to easy translatability,” explains Isabel Palomino. There are internal guidelines for the creation of such documentations. These include regulations, templates, instructions and checklists that have general validity and are constantly updated. For translations, there are also official glossaries in the respective languages. The latter are also made available to our customers in a slightly slimmed-down version. . “We work on improving the documentation every day in order to adapt it to the constantly changing requirements and to take the needs of the end users into account in the best possible way,” clarifies Petra Scheibel-Lang.
