Content, content, content

None of the technologies evaluated in this survey are worth much if we don't have quality information to present to our users. Help authors employ a variety of skills to create and deliver effective content. Some of these skills we learn through formal education and most we gain experience with in our work life. So what skills do we rely on most on a day-to-day basis? We asked the respondents to rank the importance of, and their experience with, 24 common skills. The 1 to 5 judging criteria for this question is slightly different from the criteria used for the Technologies question.

As shown in the figure below, the top skill, Writing procedures, outstripped the rest of the field with 72% of respondents indicating it was "Invaluable, a core skill." Writing conceptual and reference information came next with almost half of the respondents judging these to be core. Technical review and copy editing were also rated highly. While technologies receive most of the attention, these results confirm that the fundamental task we're charged with is to develop effective and accurate content describing how to work with our software applications.

Project planning shared space at the top with 44% of the respondents picking that as a core skill. In the survey, we narrowed the scope of this item to "without management or supervisory responsibilities." We had a separate item for Management and Supervision and 25% marked that as a core skill.

In terms of our experience with these skills, the results show that we know what pays the bills. Over 70% of the respondents claimed they used each of the most important skills "frequently" or "could write a book on it."

The "hard" skills

In seminars, books, and conferences, the focus tends to be on "hard" skills such as coding HTML as opposed to "soft" skills such as writing. By hard skills, we don't mean "more difficult," but rather having a reliance on codes and tools. How important is the acronym side of our work? How much do we need know about HTML, CSS, and all the rest?

Skills like Coding HTML and Coding CSS didn't turn up at the top of the list, as you may have noticed by their absence from the previous figure. The figure below shows the importance attributed to the various coding skills. We anticipated that Help authors may have different definitions of the scope of coding so we defined it as being accomplished "manually or with tools."

Coding HTML and Coding Windows Help lead the pack in importance with 35% of respondents rating them as core skills. We defined Windows Help as covering WinHelp and HTML Help and including the creation of HLP, CHM, CNT, and HTM files. Pre-survey expectations were that HTML Help would be rated much higher in importance, but the relatively slow growth of HTML Help described in the Technologies discussion makes the 35% here seem appropriate.

CSS and JavaScript were listed very low as core technologies. That is likely to change in the near future. JavaScript is the glue used to create a number of effects in Windows and browser-based Help. Style sheets are key to managing the consistent look and smooth maintenance of complex documentation. Coding XML is likely to increase from its current 8% as a core skill in the future, but much of our work with it will be done within the confines of authoring tools. Programming skills remain the great divide between Help authors and developers.

Other findings of note

• Management and Supervision was listed by 25% of the respondents as a core skill implying that a quarter of the respondents are managers.
• Of the respondents, 46% had little or no need for Localization skills.
• Developmental editing, Usability testing, Task analysis, Instructional design, and Web design all had moderate ratings with just over half the respondents rating them either "Useful" or "Very Important."
• Two-thirds listed Graphic development as "Useful" or "Very Important."