Laying the foundation of a content strategy.
In assessing or evaluating the project at hand (i.e., in strategizing content), the technical writer should address the following questions:
1) What is the purpose of the content?
2) Who is the audience? Sales? Users? Employees?
3) What is the product knowledge level of the audience? Highly technical? Consumer audience user?
4) Who are critical stake-holders of the project budget, and other approval authority? What roles will they play in shaping or impacting a content strategy?
5) Is the role of the content strategist clearly defined and made known to other parties involved?
6) How is the content going to be used? To inform for operation, maintenance? To train? Persuade?
7) What forms of delivery should be considered? Should multiple delivery options be considered?
8) What do customers say they want? Do they want to become part of verification and test?
9) Are subject matter experts (SMEs) accessible to the writer for assisting with content development?
10) Is the timeline reasonable for achieving all objectives of documentation plan? If not, then should there be a prioritization of what content is “absolutely necessary”, and what is a “nice to have.”?