tekom-Jahrestagung 2012 - ActiveDoc

International Management
sample projects should span a number of departments. The Project
Management, Marketing, Software Development, Web Development,
and Technical Communication departments should all be included
at various phases of the project. Everyone should agree on goals and
responsibilities.
After the initial rollout, you may want to ask your user community to
contribute samples. Before the community is asked, the technology and
guidelines for community samples will need to be developed by the
team, and a plan put in place to encourage and reward contributions.
Determining Objectives
The team needs to decide early in the planning process what the sample
projects should illustrate. Several concepts can be illustrated with
careful planning, including: features, best practices, scenarios, product
power (capabilities), ease of use, completed projects, end-user interaction,
outputs, and development environments.
Project Planning
When planning out your sample projects, keep the following in mind:
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Data or content must yield meaningful results. If you want to demonstrate
a number of features, make sure the sample has enough content.
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Avoid proprietary content and graphics.
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If you need a database, use one that is publicly available for download
(if one of them fits your needs), if not, you may need to create or
scrub one and make it available for download. Consider a web-based
sample if setup will be too complex – especially if it is a web-based
product.
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It is a good idea to establish themes for samples that you can use in
other deliverables — for example, tutorials and training. The same
data/content can be used across projects. This will provide a consistent
experience for your customers, as well as save development time.
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Download of software and sample projects/content should be as easy
as possible.
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If code snippets will be needed, make sure enough time is allotted to
develop them.
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Provide descriptions of the samples, as well as instructions for using
them.
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For desktop products, make sure there is a backup, or way to restore
the samples to their original state. The samples should be included in
the install.
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If developing a web-based sample, determine if a login will be needed
and plan accordingly. Make sure the sample is tested on several
browsers.
Writing the Scripts
Every sample should have a script or outline before sample creation
begins. All objectives should be listed in the script so nothing is missed.
When developing scripts remember that scenarios should be realistic,
and familiar to the audience. Make sure the content/data developed will
work in your scenarios (for example, if your software creates charts,
make sure the data will create charts that are meaningful). When
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