Document Development and the Cycle of Life

Salmon are born in the shallow gravel beds of inland rivers. They swim out to sea, reach maturity, and then struggle against the currents until finally they returns to the river beds from which they came—just in time to spawn and die, making way for the next generation.

Business is full of cycles too. In the rivers of the economy, documents aren’t so different from salmon.

Conception

Perhaps the most important decisions during the pre-writing stage are who the document will be for and how they will use it. Once writers determine these requirements, they interview experts to get the information they need.

Birth

The first draft of a document is fresh and full of possibilities as well as full of mistakes. Writers have to resist the urge to shield first drafts from criticism. This is the time when writing can be improved the most. Documents at this stage need to be shown to editors and reviewed by those who will need to use them in the future.

Maturity

Documents can progress through any number of drafts depending on their length and how many people they have to satisfy. Then the completed work is shipped off to inform and instruct according to its purpose—as user manuals, help files, web pages, white papers, product documentation and more.

Death

Nothing stays useful forever. Updates and addenda can only maintain articles for so long before they become obsolete. At this point documents often are stored for reference. Eventually, they are deleted from hard drives or pushed through paper shredders, making room for a new generation of documents.

What Does it All Mean?

All cycles have a purpose, and the document development life cycle is no different. In contrast to a linear path from writer to user, the writing cycle provides opportunities throughout its stages for consultation with experts, managers and users. A phased approach to writing results in higher quality, relevance and usability because it opens the document up to many ideas, criticisms and points of view.