The artifacts I have chosen are examples of communication with clients. This will take the form of documentation of a technical and non-technical nature that I have created for clients.
These documents are customer made user guides for desktop and mobile applications for multiple video management systems (VMS), as well as a hardware troubleshooting guide for a piece of custom hardware made by my employer
Requirements and Knowledge
For the user guides for the various VMS, creating a guide that a non-technical user could follow required a breadth of knowledge of the various programs, their capabilities, and common uses. It also required being able to see the software from an inexperienced user's perspective and not take any pre-existing knowledge I have of procedures for granted.
For the hardware guide, one would have to know and understand how the hardware is built and how the various components communicate with each other. Some of the employees who had been there longer than I didn't understand the hardware as well as I did.
Creating these software and hardware guides required being able to communicate technical details in a simplistic way that non-technical people can understand. It required understanding the technology being used so I would be able to communicate it effectively to people of multiple skill levels.
Key Takeaways
Clients of all levels use these documents, from entry level to C level staff. Technical and non-technical staff use these documents to use the systems developed and implemented by our company. These guides cover both hardware and software of varying levels of complexity
I feel the depth of knowledge I have on the various hardware and software components involved in creating these guides is clearly evident. It shows that I have spent a lot of time with the components and take my work seriously.
At the time I made the hardware guide, only the hardware's original designers knew the equipment better than I did. I would use this knowledge to help train the other employees so they could become better at their jobs
Being the quick learner that I am allows me to pick up on new topics quickly and then train others on how to use a given piece of hardware or software.
Challenges
The biggest challenge when creating these documents is being able to describe and simplify the procedures required for the tasks that the client needs to complete. Being able to do this in a clear, professional manner while not being too long or unengaging can be difficult.