We will interview subject-matter experts or use their rough manuals, create drafts the subject-matter experts approve, edit and polish the drafts, test the manuals with a pilot group of users, revise, and publish the final manuals. We do not need to become experts in the products for which we are writing manuals, although we are able to spend the time to do so if the company or agency wishes. Instead, we normally make use of the subject-matter experts, writing from their drafts and interviews with them so the final manuals are accurate and useful.

The senior writer on the writing projects is Robert Craig Hogan, Ph.D., director of the Business Writing Center. From 1985 until 1997, Dr. Hogan owned and managed Softlink, a contract-writing company devoted to writing user-support materials, including user's manuals, online helps, and training. Dr. Hogan has written user's manuals for the following companies: