Monika Bhatt
Senior Technical Writer @ Canva
Sydney, Australia
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Monika is currently working as a Senior Technical Writer at Canva and has over a decade of experience in tech writing in freelance as well as full-time projects for more than 25 companies. Prior to Canva, she worked for Transport for NSW projects, and also worked as a Senior Technical Writer in Nepal.
Monika holds a Masters in Information Technology and a Bachelors in Electronics and Communication Engineering degree.
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Software vs Documentation Engineers - The WAR!
This will be a light-hearted session about the omnipresent war between software engineers and technical writers (documentation engineers) when working on projects.
Battle 1: Prioritization
Software engineers prioritize coding and do not give heed to doing things in a way that makes documentation easier.
Battle 2: Definition of Done
For software engineers, it is when a feature is done. For documentation engineers, it is when a feature is well-documented, thus leading to some conflicts.
Battle 3: Speed vs Quality
Software engineers create code quickly, sometimes cutting corners on documentation, which can lead to confusion and maintenance challenges on the documentation engineer's part.
Battle 4: Communication
Communication gaps about the technicalities of a new feature, the changes in a product, and the lack of context between software engineers and documentation engineers sometimes make life difficult for documentation engineers.
Battle 5: Who is more technical?
Sometimes, software engineers do not feel that documentation engineers are not technical enough, thus leading to conflicts.
Who wins the battles? Who wins the war? Who suffers at the end? I'll explore these concepts.
Software vs Documentation Engineering! Same same but different
Everyone in the software industry knows what software engineering is. However, a crucial, yet often overlooked aspect of software engineering is documentation (tech writing). With my talk, I'd like to give everyone some context on:
- What is Documentation Engineering?
- How is it relevant to the software industry?
- How does it differ from Software Engineering?
- How is it equivalent to Software Engineering?
- The similarities and differences between SDLC and DDLC (Documentation Development Life Cycle)
I can code, can you write? - Sincerely, A Tech Writer
A crucial yet overlooked part of software development is technical content writing. However, there are very few companies that hire tech writers, and there are hardly any people in the tech fraternity who understand the nuances of tech writing.
Somewhere down the line, when the company size grows, when product documentation is non-existent, and when users need documentation for internal and external products alike, all hell breaks loose.
The first part of my presentation will hence:
- clarify that tech writing is much more than "just writing",
- explain that tech writing is similar to product development and follows the same principles,
- explain where it falls in the software development life cycle
- and explain that tech writers do know how to code too.
Additionally, not all companies have the bandwidth to hire technical writers, and honestly speaking, most developers write crappy docs. In the second part of my presentation, I'll share how some handy, real-life tips and tricks on creating effective content so that developers can finally say "Yes, I can write".
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