anja kellermann, kelly white (central user assistance...
TRANSCRIPT
Taking technical writing to the next level at SAP
Anja Kellermann, Kelly White (Central User Assistance Unit, SAP)
September 30, 2015 Public
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Introductions
Kelly White
• 12 years experience in technical communications at SAP
• 6 years management experience leading technical
communication teams across Europe
• European User Assistance Innovation lead and co-lead
for User Assistance change management program
across SAP
Anja Kellermann
• 18 years experience in technical communications at SAP
• 11 years management experience leading technical
communication teams across Europe
• Lead for User Assistance Communications and
Enablement across SAP and co-lead for User Assistance
change management program across SAP
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Agenda
Our challenges
The world is changing, and so is SAP
Software users are changing, and so are their expectations
Our vision
Our user assistance vision
Examples of our new user assistance
Our approach
Managing the change
Our key findings
How our tasks/skills as technical communicators change
What this means for training and recruiting
Our challenges
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Source: SAP Corporate Fact Sheet 1/2015
THE cloud
company
powered by
SAP HANA
Fastest-
growing
database
vendor
Fastest-
growing
company
at scale
in the cloud
Market leader
for mobile apps
for business
Market leader
in products
for business
analysis
SAP HANA
is the market
leading platform
for real-time
computing
SAP: World’s largest provider of enterprise application software
For the world 74%
of the world’s transaction
revenue touches an
SAP system
For business
98% SAP customers represent 98%
of the top 100 most valued
brands in the world
For you
97% Mobile solutions from SAP reach
97% of the world’s mobile
subscribers via text messaging
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295 Thousand Customers
15 Thousand Software Developers
191 Countries Where SAP operates
311 Million Words translated 2014
75 Thousand
Employees
7 Hundred Information Developers
One Hundred Translators
40+ Languages Translation
6.7 Million
Users
Setting the context: Some more SAP facts and figures
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The world is changing…
Cloud 36% of all data will be stored in the cloud by 2016
Mobile 90% of the world’s population over 6 years old will have a mobile device by 2020
Social 75% of customers rely on social media to influence their purchasing decisions
Big Data 44T gigabytes of data generated by 2020
Millennials 75% of the global workforce will be millennials by 2030
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… and so is SAP
We are adapting our strategy, focusing on the cloud, digital economy, Internet of Things, cyber security, big data,
and continuous delivery
We help accelerate business innovation through radical simplification • Help the world run better and improve people’s lives
• Help our customers run at their best
• Help master complexity so that our customers can run at their best
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Our users are changing…
• Software is intuitive and easy to use
• Software has an appealing user interface
• Apps are tailored to their specific needs
• There’s no real learning curve when starting to use an app
• The user experience of a business app is comparable to that of a consumer app
• Apps run on all devices – desktop, phone, and tablet
They now expect that:
Our vision
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User assistance vision
Our user assistance is a seamless part of the attractive, simple, and enjoyable experience of using
SAP software.
We assist you, before you even know you need help
SAP is the thought leader in providing people with the knowledge they need to deploy and use software
successfully.
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Who are our users?
Personas are archetypes
designed to identify users’
profiles, needs, wishes,
and expectations in order
to create the best possible
UA experience for them
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People-Centric Language
Where we’re going (UA)
• Engage all stakeholders along the
lifecycle of an application
• Make content creation an ongoing,
interactive, and open process
• Socialize content using well-
established platforms
Content Co-Creation &
Collaboration
• Rethink the way we present
information to make it easier to
consume
• Provide more visually appealing
assets such as videos, infographics,
and interactive graphics
Multimedia Assets
• Embed assistance directly in the
application, providing guidance
when and where the user needs it
• Enhance field help with examples,
learning content, and so on
In-Application Assistance
Mostly static, text-based help that is often outside of application
Classic
UA embedded where users expect to find it and in a format that suits their information needs
Modern
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User assistance language
How we talk to our users
With the language we use, we:
• Give a voice to our applications
• Think of our users as real people first, and users
second – we write in a people-centric way
• Use friendly, clear, and accessible language
* Examples from SAP Sports One
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Videos directly integrated into documents
Managing multimedia content as we do text – with versioning,
localization, and accessibility
Multimedia assets (1)
Making information easier to consume with new formats
Infographics
Introducing design into
information transfer
Guided tours for a quick intro to an app
Allowing the user to learn as he or she clicks through a complete
process or scenario
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Process overview
Providing additional information with mouse-overs and
allowing the user to navigate by clicking on graphical elements
Architecture overview
Allowing the user to choose which or how much information to see
(progressive disclosure)
Multimedia assets (2)
Making information easier to consume with interactive graphics
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In-application assistance
SAP S/4 HANA Fiori
screens now provide user
assistance in a context-
sensitive way using a new
UA framework
User assistance is directly
embedded where the user
needs it
E.g. onscreen UA for fields
is provided and comes in
different formats – text,
graphics, and videos
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Content co-creation and collaboration (1)
DITA Preview Server and Web Author
DITA Preview
Server
Translation
Daily
Authors
• Get review and
validation by
subject matter
experts
Reviewers/contributors
• Access latest doc content
• Directly fix/add information
using comments
Translators
• View source content
in context
• Preview translation
in context
Daily
Every 60
minutes Extended
collaboration with
Web Author
With Web Author, subject
matter experts can co-create
content
Lightweight, web-based editor
requires no installation
Changes are stored in a single
source, directly in the DITA
CMS
Corrections and additions are
visible as tracked changes
Templates provide support for
structuring content in line with
the DITA standard
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Content co-creation and collaboration (2)
Social media
We make our content go further by:
Posting in communities and channels
Guiding users to relevant content
Having discussions with users online
Our approach
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What do we
know about
the cloud?
Who will support
me in enhancing
my skills?
What are the
benefits of the
cloud?
What can we do to
create a positive
change
environment?
?
As technical writers, we asked ourselves what it means for us…
How does the
cloud change my
job?
Will my tasks
change and do I
need new skills?
The journey – people are our biggest asset
The transformation of technical documentation into the user assistance experience, requires us to
rethink and evolve the way we have been doing documentation up until today.
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Our objectives and change management approach
Central UA teams
Our key objectives: • Ensure we play a key role in SAP as a cloud
company
• Capitalize on our existing talent
• Innovate our role so we can provide
appealing and effective user assistance to
our customers
• Professionally manage the change across
SAP to support the transition to the cloud
Our key principles: • Leadership buy-in
• Full transparency for all stakeholders
• Dialog, exchange, and participation
• Use existing communication framework and
introduce new change activities if required
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Cloud KM
Processes Cloud Cycle
Change Management for all UA-related projects and change management program
KM Tasks &
Responsibilities Skills & Competencies
Job Profiles & Career
Paths
Recruiting Process
Enablement
Planning &
Staffing Guidelines
WP 1
WP 3
WP 2
SAP Cloud
Strategy
Dev
Tools
KM Cloud
Strategy
Cloud UA
Concept
KM
Tools
Scope of our change management program
All UA-related projects*
WP Work
package
Enablement
Next generation KM @ SAP
Processes
Oct 2014 Dec 2015
WP 4
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How we involve and engage all stakeholders
Our key findings
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New content formats
New text types
New text types Requires different tones of
language and writing styles. E.g. forum discussions, blogs,
video scripts, or subtitling
New content types Various video types (tutorials,
what’s new, how-to, promotional), various graphic types (interactive, info, static,
charts), podcasts, etc.
Faster delivery User experience
New tools
Customer retention
Customer retention Customer satisfaction is more
important as we move towards a subscription model, which
requires closer customer collaboration, user testing, and
user research
New tools Required to produce the
different content types. E.g. TechSmith Camtasia for how-to
videos, Adobe Premier for promotional and what’s new
videos
How our tasks and skills as technical communicators change
User experience Requires basic design and
usability awareness in order to consult development on how best to embed user assistance
Faster delivery Faster delivery cycles require earlier involvement and an iterative approach (phased
publication) not least to ensure the simultaneous shipment of
localized versions
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What this means for training
New training courses
Writing:
• People-centric approach
• Blogging
• Scripting videos
Multimedia:
• Creating how-to / promotional videos
• Creating interactive graphics
User Experience:
• User experience basics
• Make the difference with user interface
texts, visual graphics, and interaction
design
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Our key findings so far (1)
Process of change management
There are people who embrace change, and they are
excited about the new opportunities
There are people who are afraid of change due to the
instability and the need to learn new skills
Involving people and regular communication is key
It’s not only a matter of training, but also of culture
and mindset
Change takes time and is a gradual process
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Our key findings so far (2)
The changing role of technical communicators
Writing and language skills remain important
The new tasks mean more flexibility and
responsibility – a challenge for some and an
opportunity for others
As the tasks diversify, we cannot expect that
everyone can do everything. We need
specialists for certain tasks
With an agile development model and now faster
delivery cycles, it is even more important that
technical communicators are fully integrated in
the development teams
We need to work closer with universities to
attract new talent
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Our journey
We assist you,
before you even know
you need help
OUR USERS ARE CHANGING …
… AND SO ARE WE
© 2015 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
Thank you
Dr. Anja Kellermann Kelly White
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