FAQs, procedures, and troubleshooting
For a use-case based help center
2019
Note: This Help Center is for TraceLink’s legacy platform and is not up to date with our current document design and writing styles.
Context
The saleable returns requirement of the US FDA Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) involves 7 TraceLink apps, intricate configuration, and complicated processing. At the time we released this functionality, we were not allowed to link between documentation for different apps, and we did not have a strategy for documenting multiple apps in a single documentation set. Technical Communications received an average of 1 email per week from customers or Services employees with questions or complaints about how the functionality works.
Proposal
Using these questions and complaints, we argued for creating an all-in-one help center that brought together documentation for all 7 apps, geared specifically toward complying with saleable returns, and this plan was approved.
Implementation
I developed a project plan and content strategy for integrating all of the relevant information from the different apps into a single help center. I worked with Product Managers and Services SMEs to identify every piece of information needed, and then determined the most useful IA based on the functional order of the steps that users needed to take. I structured and wrote information based on 2 primary business use cases: manufacturers producing information about pharmaceutical products and the downstream supply chain (e.g distributors, pharmacies) consuming that information when assessing returned product.
I also wrote all of the FAQs, UI procedures, troubleshooting scenarios and other conceptual information. Another writer documented the APIs, but I set up the IA for him and extensively reviewed his content to ensure the document had a single voice.
Results
Overall, we decreased the documentation feedback requests related to this functionality significantly. After publishing this help center, we went from an average of 1 request every week to 1 every 6 months or so, which was more on par with our other apps.
Skills
Project management, leadership, IA, UI writing, FAQ and troubleshooting writing, reviewing, applying feedback, working within regulated industries, writing for B2B audiences
Tools
MadCap Flare, Confluence, Jira, Adobe XD, Excel, enterprise software, verification router services