Being in IT, I see a lot of large projects that need to be documented. A large documentation project is any project requiring more than one or two people and producing more than one volume of documentation. In some instances, a documentation team may have hundreds of contributors and produce many volumes of documentation of many different types. A large software development project might produce the following documents:
* Management Plan
* System Specifications or Requirements
* Functional Specification
* High-Level System Specification
* Detailed System Specification
* Hardware Specification
* Database Specification
* Test Plan
* User Manual or Guides
* Installation and Maintenance Guide Operations Guide or Online Help
Thus, at the beginning of a large documentation project, the manager of the project should determine:
* What types of documentation will be produced
* Who will coordinate the documentation efforts
* Who will actually produce the instructions or documentation (conducting the analysis and write the instructions)
* What the deadlines will be
* Who will be designated at technical and editorial reviewers
* Who will maintain the documentation, correcting mistakes or updating the documentation
In each case, the production of the documentation should follow the procedures of:
* Analyzing audiences
* Purposes
* Tasks
* Resources and constraints
* Planning content and presentations
* Writing and editing
* Testing
* Revising
* Retesting
In each case, the documents should generally be structured as follows:
* Set up all documentation with a top-down, general to particular design
* Provide an orientation at the beginning of each document which explains the function and purpose of the document
* Break each document down into functional modules
For each document, provide an explanation of how the sections and subsections function and describe the information flow through each section and subsection.
-NHarris
http://www.QualityTechnicalWriting.com
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