mksnake
Sep 5, 2009
Graduate / MBA behavioral essay: "Went beyond what was defined" [4]
Thanks for the feedback. I have changed the structure and some of the content. I prefer not changing the topic as for me this is an example of "going beyond" the defined way. Does this essay now answer the quesion asked?
Essay 1: Please describe a time when you went beyond what was defined, expected, established, or popular. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
Our user manuals are the only available end-user documentation for our engineering software product. The usual practice in my team was to create these user manuals after the product was released. In addition, the user manuals were created in the form of very large documents. Due to their size, these manuals were created quite late and most users did not read through the whole document. Hence they were not able to use the software properly after it was released.
I understood that this way of creating manuals resulted in numerous support calls and a general feeling that our product was too complex. Even though creating the manuals was not my responsibility, I felt compelled to improve these manuals so that our users have a better opinion of our product. In 2007, I volunteered to create them for our next product release.
After analysing the current situation, I made changes to the usual way of creating these manuals. I created these manuals during the product testing phase before the product was released. This ensured that the manuals were ready at the time the software was released. Also, instead of creating the manuals as large documents, I proposed to put them onto a Wiki, a dynamic website where any user can create or change any content. This would made the manuals more modular and facilitate updating specific articles without revising the whole document. This would also allow our users to make changes and give feedback on the content, although without a content review process.
Some people in my team objected to creating manuals on the Wiki and especially to the absence of a review process. After talking to them and understanding their requirements, I introduced an innovative reactive-review process. An administrator would review the changes made to the content after they were made, and roll them back if needed. With this review process, the Wiki was accepted and the manuals were moved onto this Wiki.
The manuals for our next release were delivered together with the product. Our team appreciated the facility of easily updating individual articles on the Wiki. Our users also appreciated the Wiki and it's modular structure which facilitated reading these manuals. Seeing these results, my team decided to incorporate creating user manuals during the product testing phase in the standard process. Now, manuals on new features are delivered well in time and the Wiki is the standard help system for our users. Our product was also acknowledged recently as one which requires the least user support.
Thanks for the feedback. I have changed the structure and some of the content. I prefer not changing the topic as for me this is an example of "going beyond" the defined way. Does this essay now answer the quesion asked?
Essay 1: Please describe a time when you went beyond what was defined, expected, established, or popular. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
Our user manuals are the only available end-user documentation for our engineering software product. The usual practice in my team was to create these user manuals after the product was released. In addition, the user manuals were created in the form of very large documents. Due to their size, these manuals were created quite late and most users did not read through the whole document. Hence they were not able to use the software properly after it was released.
I understood that this way of creating manuals resulted in numerous support calls and a general feeling that our product was too complex. Even though creating the manuals was not my responsibility, I felt compelled to improve these manuals so that our users have a better opinion of our product. In 2007, I volunteered to create them for our next product release.
After analysing the current situation, I made changes to the usual way of creating these manuals. I created these manuals during the product testing phase before the product was released. This ensured that the manuals were ready at the time the software was released. Also, instead of creating the manuals as large documents, I proposed to put them onto a Wiki, a dynamic website where any user can create or change any content. This would made the manuals more modular and facilitate updating specific articles without revising the whole document. This would also allow our users to make changes and give feedback on the content, although without a content review process.
Some people in my team objected to creating manuals on the Wiki and especially to the absence of a review process. After talking to them and understanding their requirements, I introduced an innovative reactive-review process. An administrator would review the changes made to the content after they were made, and roll them back if needed. With this review process, the Wiki was accepted and the manuals were moved onto this Wiki.
The manuals for our next release were delivered together with the product. Our team appreciated the facility of easily updating individual articles on the Wiki. Our users also appreciated the Wiki and it's modular structure which facilitated reading these manuals. Seeing these results, my team decided to incorporate creating user manuals during the product testing phase in the standard process. Now, manuals on new features are delivered well in time and the Wiki is the standard help system for our users. Our product was also acknowledged recently as one which requires the least user support.
