Ccc User Manual

ChryslerComprehensiveCompensation does not have a UserManual. Having invested so little now in documentation means that we have been able to apply those resources elsewhere, to better effect. (See XpAndDocuments.)

We have not yet needed a user manual, because we have dedicated users in the next room. We trained them and we answer questions. We didn't write anything up. Your mileage will probably vary. If you need a user manual, ExtremeProgramming says to write it.

We may in future have a remote site for an extra-secure payroll. We may at that time need more user documentation, and we will at that time provide it.

We may be suffering now in Production Support due to being repeatedly asked questions about how to do some payroll process. We're just beginning to assess whether this is true.

If we are, we will do one of two things:

1. We will write a program to help the users do the process. The idea will be that the program will do the process perfectly, while following a procedure, however well documented, will be prone to error.
2. If we can't code it, we'll document it. We'll put a cover on it saying "User Manual".

"Is this wrong???", he cried plaintively.

It depends. Does the process require human judgment? If not, by all means automate it. If so, it isn't automatable, and may well need documentation. In this situation, my instinct would be to provide training and on-line help rather than paper documentation. Visit the site where the payroll people are working; they may not have enough desk space to store paper documentation, far less the time to read it.

-- BetsyHanesPerry

Online help is a good idea, of course, and one I might have forgotten to employ. We'll put it under a button labeled "User Manual".

As for folks not having a place to store and time to read paper, I really wish you would stop raising objections to XP's desire to document things. ;->