HA! Quite true! TW's usually also bring an approach that is closer to "green field" than the developers, engineers, etc., can provide. Because they understand how THEY INTEND for it to function and be used, they can be a bit myopic about how what they have CREATED actually plays out.
Rene Bill Swallow <techcommdood at gmail.com> wrote: I'd say that those are additional skills. What I took Chris' remark to mean is that writers should be there through the entire process, involved with design, so not only do they influence the product design along with the other stakeholders, but also have a means of thoroughly planning the entire documentation effort as part of that product development planning. Let's face it, most tech writers come at a product from a different angle than an engineer or a tester. It may not always be user focused, but it certainly is from a task-based angle. "Is this thing going to be well thought out and therefore easy to explain or is this going to be yet another 100 page install procedure?"
