The Commerce of Content
Worksheet:
Scheduling an Information Design and Development Project

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Milestone

Percentage of Total Project

Date

Assessment

Usually not indicated as separate milestones but need to be accounted for in your planning:

• Research
• Interviews
• Report of the needs analysis
• Approval for the report
• Write objectives
• Prepare evaluation plan
• Receive informal approval for the objectives and evaluation plan

10-15%;

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Design

Usually not indicated as separate milestones but need to be accounted for in your planning:

• Choosing form and medium
• Structure (outline, book elements)
• Preparation of original design plans
• Review and revision of design plans with client
• Review and revision of design plans with potential users
• Approval of the content proposal
• Preparation of product guidelines (editorial, technical, production, and usability guidelines)
• Prepare schedule, budget, and staffing plans
• Final approval for the project plan

15-20%

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First draft

25%

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First review (editing, usability, technical). Be realistic with review time; people cannot review 600 pages of text in a day or two. Also, make sure that you leave time for copying (if distributing printed review copies) and mailing (to and from you) as well as time for meetings to clarify review comments.

Part of the total time of developing the first draft, but you need to inform reviewers when copies are going to be sent.

______________________

Second draft

15%

______________________

Second review

______________________

Third draft (optional)

10%

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Third review (optional)

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Final draft

5%

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Production. ALthough not separately reported in a schedule, leave sufficient time for:

• Copyediting
• Preparation of golden code and a camera-ready copy
• To printer

10%

______________________

Shipping and distribution

1-4 weeks, depending on publishing method

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Maintenance (optional, not necessarily included in the schedule but needs to be considered)

• Planned updates
• Responses to comments from readers

Although a part of the time estimate, these activities are not calculated as part of the total time needed to develop a technical communication product.

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• Did you leave appropriate proportions of time for each draft?
• Did you leave time for copying and distributing review drafts?
• Did you leave time to react to changes?
• Did you leave sufficient time for production and duplication?

Add about 10 to 30% to your schedule to address expected and unexpected challenges.

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