The Doc Quality Review (DQR) Process

Context:

At Intel, I joined a subsection of writers to form the Style Guide Task Force. We managed our internal style guide for software documentation and helped other content writers follow the guidelines we drafted.

Because the guide was comprehensive, we realized that integrating the document as a resource in the content creation process was not always easy. We introduced periodic Peer Review Parties so that writers could spend dedicated time reviewing drafts for each other. Additionally, they would also use the style guide as a reference.

When this practice became successful quickly, we expanded the review process by introducing the Doc Quality Review (DQR) process.

The Work:

We introduced the DQR process to improve the overall quality of all Intel software documentation. Because we did not have a way to quantify the quality of our documents, we created a quality dashboard with sets of metrics for different aspects of content quality:

• Tone
• Clarity
• Structure
• Visual Impact

In each area, we assessed content based on multiple criteria. We linked the criteria to relevant sections in our style guide so that writers and reviewers could educate themselves on current guidelines.

Writers worked with their managers to identify impactful documents that could benefit from the DQR process. I paired up a writer with a reviewer and explained the process to them. After a review, we encouraged the document owner to apply the feedback and improve the overall quality of their document. To ensure this quality improvement, writers often participated in the process a second time when they would submit a new sample from the same document. The idea was to encourage writers to learn about guidelines and apply them across their work.

Result:

I helped with the setup of this quality dashboard and managed the review process for three years. 

During this time, I completed over 20 reviews of key Intel documents.