Factors playing into duration estimation

• Access to developers
• Amount of source code comments
• Usage of CASE tools
• Technical reference material quicker and cheaper to produce than user documentation

Technical Writers do

• document design and formatting
• interviewing
• graphics
• indexing

Time required to create a single page

Technical reference

• Interview/Discussions: 0.5-1h
• Draft 1h
• Graphics 1.5-2h
• Edit/Review 0.5h
• Index 0.25h

Total: 3.75 – 4.75

User documentation

• Interview/Discussions: 0.25 – 0.5
• Draft: 0.5 – 1.0
• Graphics (there should be one every 2-3 pages): 0.5 – 1.0
• Edit/Review: 0.25-0.5
• Index: 0.25

Total: 1.75 – 3.25

According to study on Estimating Software Costs, documentation accounts for 10% of the total cost of a project.

Communications issues

• Technical writer needs to communicate with the Software Developer, hence reducing his performance