Reactive Writing Techniques for Rewarding and Retaining Users

Geri Rebstock • Staff Technical Writer • salesforce.com

Hello Chicago!

About me…• Based in San Francisco –

salesforce.com• 15 years in technical writing• Contractor / full-timer/ lone writer /

team member • Aon Insurance, Pacific Bell, Schwab,

Advent Software, salesforce.com• Information design, writing, editing• Two STC awards

Here’s what we’ll cover today

• What is reactive content, anyway?• Why does it matter? What’s the problem?• How can leverage the reactive model to

enhance our own doc and user assistance?

• Examples• Exercises

So… what is reactive content?

• Defined: Documentation produced in direct response to a single, specific, user-expressed problem (the content creator’s or someone else’s).• Who writes it?• Bloggers• Members of user groups• Our companies’ product support reps• Not professional writers

So… what is reactive content?

• What’s so great about it? Why does it persist?• Provides specific and targeted information• Meets an immediate / urgent need• Is often sympathetic and friendly

• How do our users find it?• User communities • Immediate Frantic Googling (IFG)™

(We’ve all done it.)

What does it look like?

What does it look like?

So what’s the problem? Why should we care?

• Lots of reasons. While it often meets an immediate need, reactive content can be:• Hard to find• Hard to understand• Incomplete• Out of date

• Unflattering• Lacking context• Expensive to our companies• The first―and the last―documentation

our users see• It satisfies a momentary need, but doesn’t

always provide additional value

So what’s the problem? Why should we care?

In sum…

What can we do?

First, think of it this way….

If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.

If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

-Chinese proverb

We want to do both.

• First, meet that immediate need to gain trust• Get the user out of HELP mode… • … And into LEARN mode• Keep our users in our product and our doc• Create experts• Create evangelists

But how?

• Five tools and techniques:• Create personas• Identify your user’s pain points• Deliver help and user assistance• Send users to the right kind of doc• Use style to maximize the user’s experience

1. Create user personas

• Defined: An archetypal user that represents a larger group of users. • Personas can include:• A name and image• Job and career path• Demographics (age, education …)• Psychographics (values, interests, cultures …)

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Right Style

1. Create user personas

• Personas can include:• Task flows and times spent• Products and tools• Performance measurements• Pain points• Doc and UA preferences

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

1. Create user personasPersonas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

1. Create user personasPersonas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

2. Identify potential pain points

• Your Persona + Your Product. What seems to be the trouble? Something…• Brand new product or feature?• Time-consuming?• *Old, obscure, or buried?• *Beyond the user’s typical workflow?• *Beyond the user’s standard skills?• *High stress or high exposure?

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

3. Deliver help and UA

• Your Persona + Your Product. Where does it hurt?• A UI page?• A multipage task or workflow?• An interaction between tools?• A product gap or missing feature?

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

4. Send them to the right doc

Where is our user now, and where do we want them to get to?

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Support Phone #

FAQ

Reference

Task

Task of Tasks

Map

Concept

Overview

“Help!” Mode

“Learn…” Mode

What medium works best?

4. Send them to the right doc

What’s the sweet spot?

“See also” topics

Support Phone #

FAQ

Concept

Overview

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Why?• Recognizable• In context

Reference

Task

Task of Tasks

Map

Example: Data.com Clean AdminPersonas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Example: Data.com Clean Admin

• Here’s the challenge we faced.• Product new in Salesforce, but…• Enhancement / redesign of vendor product• Users may or may not have experience with

vendor product• Most administrators are sales managers,

not full-time administrators• High stress / high exposure

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Example: Data.com Clean Admin

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Example: Data.com Clean Admin

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

5. Use friendly, accessible style

• Encapsulate• Deliver the smallest useful unit of information• Make each topic answer a single question • Tip: Use the journalists’ questions: who, what,

where, when, why, how, which

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

5. Use friendly, accessible style

• Use minimalism• Eliminate extraneous content―at all levels• Craft titles that guide your users• Doc one way and only one way to do something

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

5. Use friendly, accessible style

• But don’t skimp!• Include all required information• Define key terms and make definitions easy to find• Tip: Write wordy and edit down

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

5. Use friendly, accessible style

• Use “factoring”• Say it one way and only one way, every time• Use parallel structure at all levels• *Reinforce your information types with title syntax• *Repeat sentence syntax to highlight new info• Make list intros as detailed as possible• Eliminate “synonyms”

• More factoring = time savings, less confusion!

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Overview X Overview Accounts OverviewData.com Overview

Concept Understanding X Understanding Clean Status Understanding Data.com Licenses and Limits

Map/Task of Tasks Setting up X Setting up Data.comSetting up Forecasts

Task …ing X Adding Accounts from Data.comCreating Role HierarchiesFinding a User’s Forecast

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Example: Factoring

Use title syntax to reinforce info types

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

Example: Factoring

Repeat sentence syntax to highlight new info

5. Use friendly, accessible style

• Orient your reader to keep them focused.• Use time words: now, later, before, first, start, finish• Use place words and phrases: “Here’s what

you’ll see.”• Use active and passive voices to emphasize user /

product interactions

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

5. Use friendly, accessible style

• If you wouldn’t say it out loud, don’t write it• Additionally• Optionally • Subsequently

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

5. Use friendly, accessible style

• Use a positive, friendly tone (aka “Aloha Style”)• Casual language, but no jargon• Short sentences: “Here’s how.”• Positive reinforcement: “It’s easy!”• Contractions: “Now you’re done!”

Personas • Pain Points • Delivery • Right Doc • Style

And now we’re done…

… with the presentation.Let’s move on to the exercises….

ExercisesWith a partner or in a small group…1. Think of a software product or tool you use, and

discuss yourself as a persona. Personas need:

• Name• Photo• Job and Career• Demographic information

(age, education, etc.)

• Psychographic information• Task flows and times spent• Performance

measurements• Pain points

What relevant factor might a writer be surprised to learn about you?

Exercises

2. Discuss a recent IFG™ situation (for a product that has documentation). • What was the problem you were trying to solve? • Where did you start looking for answers or help? • Where did you ultimately find it? • Did it meet your needs? • What message did it communicate about the

product?• How could a professional writer have done

better?

Questions?

Awesome!Thanks so much!

Additional questions / comments? Contact me any time: grebstock@salesforce.com

Twitter: @salesforcedocs