Technical Writing & Web Content Writing
It is almost ironic, but clearly written
communication is more important now in the digital
information age than ever before. Skilled writing that
accurately conveys ideas or information is critical
to both personal and business economic survival.
We are experts. Circuit Riders was originally founded in 1999 as a technical writing consultancy. Several years later we expanded into the Web through a series of Website, e-Commerce, and web-based software development projects. Technical writing is still one of our core services, and we rely heavily on our technical writing skills on every project we work on.
We use the same sort of phased approach on writing projects that we employ on all of our other development projects, combined with single-source documentation techniques. The result is clear, accurate, usable documentation for all levels of users.
Our Work is Economical
Whether you need website content development, printed user guides, an online help system, or to support your corporate branding, our work will help you realize significant savings throughout the development cycle by bridging the gap between technology and the people who use it. The earlier we are brought into your project, the greater your savings.
SEO Content Writing Specialists
We specialize in writing that supports Search Engine Optimization and Marketing goals. This is the key to achieving a high ranking in organic search results, without wasting time and money on paid adword campaigns that do not achieve their goals. (More...)
Technical Writing Services
We offer the following technical writing services and more for both print and online delivery:
- Search Engine Optimization ("SEO") Content Writing
- Technical Documentation
- Online Help Systems
- User Guides
- Getting Started Guides
- Training Courses
- Technical Illustrations, Flowcharts, and Diagrams
- Product Documentation
- e-Commerce Product Descriptions
Experienced Technical Writing Team
Our managing partner, Mary Ecsedy, is a senior member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and a past president of the Pittsburgh chapter.
SAMS Teach Yourself XML in 10 Minutes
Mary Ecsedy, Technical Editor.
The Circuit Riders tech writing team includes technical writers, information specialists, and graphic designers with decades of combined experience. We have worked together for years, developing clear, accurate, usable documentation for all levels of users. Our work is scalable and economical. We have documented complete life cycle software development, engineering projects, and industrial manufacturing processes in a variety of industries, many of which are heavily regulated.
There are few writing teams with our level of technical expertise that are still capable of working successfully with non-technical users.
We work with website developers, software engineers, graphic designers, business and systems analysts and designers, product managers, marketing teams, upper management, end users, and customers.
Business Writing
Our years of eCommerce and direct business experience enable us to work directly with executives, managers, and business analysts on business writing projects such as SEO and website content development, marketing materials, and project requirements. We bridge the gap between Finance and IT.
Writing is a key component of business communications and social networking, and we work with clients to develop style and content guidelines to prevent problems before they occur, and help realize the potential of these exciting innovations.
We Are Members of the Development Team
We have years ̵ decades ̵ of experience working in complete life cycle software development, from requirements through acceptance testing. Every technical writer on our team is also an experienced project manager. Several of us have experience working in software development and heavy industry as systems analysts and designers.
We work as members of the software development team; the earlier we are brought into a software project, the more effective we can be in creating a usable finished product on time and within budget. We are usability specialists who bridge the gap between users and developers.
We work with programmers and software engineers on web-based and installed applications to create integrated documentation such field-specific pop-up help, online help, and interface design.
Systems Analysis & Design
If you bring a technical writer into a development project that is still in the early planning stages, they can be called Systems Analysts & Designers. Why? Because just like systems analysts, technical writers understand the project and its implications across all department and organization boundaries. They can do user analysis, requirements analysis, technical and functional specifications analysis, and process analysis, and also redesign them all. Technical writers can make project, product, and marketing recommendations, and also generate the reports, spreadsheets, presentations, and flowchart diagrams to back them up.
Software Development Example
For example, it is the technical writer who is most likely to spot potential problems such as usability issues. For example, when the words that the developers used on the drop-down menus and button labels don't match the ones used by the intended users.
No writer until the end – High Risk of Failure
If the writer has been brought into the project during its end phases, after development is all done and it's in final testing and getting ready for the release, there's not much that can be done. The business planning group thinks that fixing the problem at that point will be too time-consuming and expensive. ("What's the big deal? They're just words! Who cares?!") So the product is rolled out using the wrong terminology on the interface. Customers are confused. Help Desk demand skyrockets. And Management wonders why the product failed to generate the projected sales revenue they were hoping for.
Writer at the beginning – High Odds of Success
If the writer has been brought into the project during the early phases, such as requirements and planning, it's a completely different story. In that case, the writer can simply provide the developers with the labels to use, based on the requirements interviews and planning discussions with the user representatives and project managers. This saves the developers from having to take the time to think about it, and avoids the scenario above completely.
Understanding Real Costs is Critical
The problem is that the up-front cost of bringing in a writer or systems analyst early in a project is often perceived by financial management as an unnecessary cost. The simple example above shows why it's important to understand enough about technical development to avoid the hidden costs that may not be obvious right away. We've seen companies go under as a direct result of issues that should have been addressed long before they became deal-killing problems.
Writing in Regulated Industries
As former law librarians with academic, financial, and corporate library experience, we are able to work effectively and efficiently in industries that are overseen by Federal and state regulatory agencies. Our experience includes documentation that adheres to the guidelines and standards of the DOD, DOE and NRA (including WIPP), EPA, OSHA, SEC, and Sarbanes-Oxley, and more.
The Tools We Use
We could insert here a long bulleted lists of all the applications we use and the markup languages we write, but the short story is this: we work in both Linux and Windows operating systems. We use text editors, Emacs, Microsoft Office, Open Office, as well as online help applications.
We develop Web-based documentation in markup languages such as HTML, XML, and SGML, and scripting languages such as PHP. We generally prefer to code by hand, although we do use Dreamweaver to work on websites we did not develop ourselves.
If you have specific application or language requirements, just ask. The odds are very high that we have experience with your tools, and if we don't we pick up new things very quickly. We'd be happy to discus this with you.
Contact us without obligation to discuss your documentation or software project. Call us at (412) 422-1611; we're on Eastern time.
