{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Not-Boring Tech Writer","title":"Kate sounds off on beliefs and maintenance work","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1163,"description":"In this solo episode, I share an update on my content update progress. I also reflect on Fabrizio Ferri-Benedetti’s interview (S3:E20) and the ways exploring models like his Seven-Action Documentation model have helped me interrogate my own beliefs about tech writing, the benefits of self-knowledge in becoming a better writer, and the ways that maintenance docs work helps me recharge.—I’ve continued my work to update the KnowledgeOwl Support Knowledge Base to align with major navigation and UI changes that we rolled out in December, and I’m finally nearing the light at the end of the tunnel: my initial punchdown list has less than 50 articles remaining! Along the way, I’ve also had to re-update docs I already updated as we rolled out more changes to existing features–ahhh, the life of a tech writer.In his interview, Fabri mentioned that part of his motivation for creating the Seven-Action Documentation model was a frustration that people were taking frameworks like Diátaxis and just rote-applying them to their documentation. We discovered some very deep common ground: that models and frameworks are useful because they help you, as a writer, surface and interrogate the deeply-held beliefs you have about technical writing. They’re tools for exploration rather than step-by-step guides on what to do. In my case, engaging with the Seven-Action Documentation model helped me realize how strongly I felt about appraisal and troubleshooting as user needs. While I’m not necessarily crafting new content templates to handle this, my site structure has naturally incorporated them, and I’m now exploring the idea of review checklists or user journeys that might help me assure that I’m handling all the user needs in some way.I’ve also been sick with Covid, which slowed down my velocity for more strategic, creative work and prompted me to return to a lot of maintenance work. Fabri mentioned that maintenance work helps him recharge, and I found the same thing. I often call...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/JlP4_zZATprOmI0COWYcSJZswo0AzjaOmxyE_M5gX6M/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kNTdh/ZjBlMjA5ZmEwZDhh/NTNjZWFiOWM2NWY1/ZDAzNS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}