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This presentation looks at the Darwin Information Tying Architecture (DITA) from the business perspective of how it fits into, and can help to facilitate, an integrated product lifecycle. The presentation also included a test where one of the images presented gears that could never turn. As expected, several people pointed this out after the presentation and they were exactly the people who I expected would spot and object to the impossible arrangement. Nerds (in the most lovable sense) tend to self identify.
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DITA and the
Integrated Product
Lifecycle
Joe Gollner
Managing Director
Gnostyx Research Inc
@joegollner
Delivered at the CIDM DITA Europe Conference
in Munich Germany, November 2013
Important Acknowledgement
Nolwenn Kerzreho
Componize Software
@nkerzreho
This presentation is substantially based on
a collaboration with Nolwenn Kerzreho
based on a survey she conducted on
collaborating with casual authors
Reading this article in the CIDM
Newsletter, and attending
Nolwenn’s presentation at the CIDM
DITA North America 2013, started
these wheels in motion… CIDM Best Practices Newsletter
October 2013
• The Product Lifecycle
& its Challenges
• Content Collaboration
& the Product Lifecycle
• DITA,
Content Collaboration,
& the Integrated
Product Lifecycle
Topics
A Canadian Winter
• Franciscan Friar
• Oxford Scholar
• Died 666 years ago
in Munich
Ockham’s Razor
“Pluralitas non est
ponenda sine
necessitate”
“Plurality is not to be
posited without
necessity”
William of Ockham
A Piece of History
The Product Lifecycle & its Challenges
• A Global Economy calls for
• Continuous
process improvement
• Maximized automation
• Dynamically tailored products
• Localized delivery & support
• Reconfigurable supply chains
• This Demands
• Standardized parts
• Flexible & dynamic assembly
for products, services & content
The Facts of Business Life
The Practice of Management
(1954)
Peter F. Drucker
• Thomas L. Friedman
in his book
The World is Flat specifically focused on the
levelling effects of XML
• XML
• Enabled global
supply chain automation
• This drove the ability to
massively distribute
manufacturing & support
XML has played a key role
(2005)
What does this mean for Products?
ProductStrategy
Acquisition Delivery
Governance Operation
What does this mean for Products?
ProductStrategy
Acquisition Delivery
Governance Operation
Streamlined
Development
Evidence-based
Product Decisions
Customer-specific
product delivery
Rich Customer
Feedback Channels
No Trade-offs Allowed
• Specialization is
the order of the day
• Not a bad thing
• Not something that
can be reversed
What does this mean for Knowledge Workers?
(1993)
But
It does
pose us
challenges
in how we
communicate
The Product Lifecycle & its Discontents
Course Materials
Documentation
Specifications
Collateral
Requirements
Un
coo
rdin
ated
C
on
ten
t Si
los
Un
coo
rdin
ated
C
ust
om
er E
xper
ien
ce
Knowledge Base
Proposals
Training
TechComm
Engineering
Marketing
Product Mgt
Support
Sales
The Problem of Silos
Introducing Content Collaboration
• The contribution of work
from two or more people
to a common product
Collaboration Defined
• This means that
there is shared
responsibility
for the result
Content Collaboration Pain Points
• Collaborating on large,
monolithic information
products is very hard
(impossible?)
• Will be limited to
• Sequential editing
• review cycles
• Weak back-channel
discussion avenues
• Little experience with cross-silo collaboration
• Little experience with modular, structured authoring…
Some Known Problem Sources
Improving Collaboration & the Integrated Product Lifecycle
The Basic Improvement Strategy - Technology O
ne
Sou
rce
Inte
grat
ed C
on
ten
t
On
e V
oic
e -
Inte
grat
ed
Cu
sto
mer
Exp
erie
nce
Course Materials
Specifications
Collateral
Requirements
Knowledge Base
Proposals
Training
Engineering
Marketing
Product Mgt
Support
Sales
Guidance & Templates
Publishable Content
Feedback & Outcomes
Published Content
Information Integration Information Experience
Information Services broker internal
communications andchannel high-value
content to customers as an integrated experience & returns guidance based
on customer results
CMS
Authoring Publishing
DITA
Steps towards Technology Improvement
Nolwenn Kerzreho
Componize Software
@nkerzreho So
urc
e
Elaborating on the Steps
OrganizeCore Content
Mobilize Communicators
1
Equip & empower
communicators
to be able to deliver
new information
services as a
tactical tool
IntegrateExternal Content
Engage Subject Matter Experts
2
Engage subject
matter experts to
streamline content
pathways, speed
up content lifecycles
& improve quality
IncludeExternal Content
Team withSuppliers
3
Extend content
connections to
suppliers to
assemble a
complete picture of
product information
Go Social
Coordinate with Partners
4
Enlist partners to
improve your
understanding of
customers needs
& environments
Go Mobile
Listen to Users
5
Expand content
connections to
reach customers
& users when &
where they are
using the products
Product Content Strategy
Core Concept:
Content needs to
be planned,
created,
delivered,
used, and
managed
in the
context of
the product
lifecycle
to which it is
associated
Key Implications:
Content needs
to be understood
as more than
post-production
documentation.
Content
is created
throughout the
product lifecycle
and is a central
part of how the
product is created
and evolved.
Product Content Strategy: Acquisition
Modular content
can easily move
among content
contributors
Product Content Strategy: Delivery
Deliver content as
working formats
(office docs)
for reuse by
business
users
Product Content Strategy: Engagement
Engage
content
users to
enhance content
with comments
& contributions
Product Content Strategy: Management
Modular
content can be
managed in
the product
context
DITA Collaboration in Action
• Widely supported
approach to modular,
structured authoring
• Expanding array of
“out-of-the-box” outputs
• HTML5, ePub….
• Ability to incorporate
specific business details
• e.g., S1000D semantics
• Expanding input options
• Office tools, online editing,…
What DITA has to Offer that is Special
And this is Important for Product Lifecycles
• DITA provides
• A common & extensible
representation of all
product lifecycle
content assets
• A wide & expanding
array of tools for
channelling content
between stakeholders
• A large & expanding community of vendors & practitioners
• Patterns that align with the behaviour of common tools
& the challenging demands of managing complex content …DITA seems to be the only standards community tackling this broad a range of needs
Making Connections
Joe Gollner
Gnostyx Research Inc.
www.gnostyx.com
Twitter: @joegollner
Blog: The Content Philosopher www.gollner.ca
Related Post: http://www.gollner.ca/2013/10/product-content-strategy.html
