LavaCon Las Vegas 2016 Presentation

1. Taking the Show on the Road
Implementing DITA Across Verticals
Jeff Engle—Solution Architect
October 26, 2016

2. Agenda
Discussion of
Three Different DITA
Implementations
Overview of the
Challenges/Opportunities
Implementation Reviews
• Xerox’s Internal Implementation
of DITA (“Standard” Technical
Implementation)
• Human Resources Implementation
• Learning and Training
2 October 20, 2016

3. 3 October 20, 2016
Overview

4. Who has been involved
with an implementation
of DITA in Tech Pubs?
Who has been involved
with an implementation
of DITA in Learning
and Training?
How many people
have implemented
DITA in HR or other
non-technical areas
of an organization?
What type of DITA implementations have you been part of?
October 20, 20164

5. What could these things have in common?
Technical versus Human Resources Content
5 October 20, 2016

6. Technical Documentation
for Printers/Copiers
• User Guides
• System Administration Guides
• Customer Engagement/Installation Guides
• Knowledge Base/xerox.com
• Specification Sheets
• Marketing Brochures
Technical versus Human Resources Content
6 October 20, 2016

7. Human Resources Documents
• Enrollment Guides
• Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs)
• Benefits Brochures
• Training Materials
Technical versus Human Resources Content
7 October 20, 2016

8. What’s similar
about the
environments?
Large amount of content
Lots of similar/
identical content
Multiple configurations of
content for publications
Need a standard, consistent
branded output
Need for various publication
output types
8 October 20, 2016

9. What’s different
about the
environments?
Authoring skillset/toolset
Component Content
Management System (CCMS)
• Publishing
• CCMS
• Authoring Tool
9 October 20, 2016

10. 10 October 20, 2016
Xerox Implementation Review

11. 11 October 20, 2016
DITA Implementation
• Implemented DITA in 2007
• 40–45 deliverables a year
• Translating into 18+ languages
• Publication formats:
PDF, Java Help and HTML Help
• Achieved cost savings,
built in the reuse
• Continuous process improvement

12. • Specification sheets—standard product
information
‒ Marketing brochures, user guides, system
administration guides and installation guides all have
the same data
• Specifications sometimes inconsistent across
publications, based on changing information
• Development cycles and documentation
release are different
• Want to “automatically” update all the
deliverables
Specification Sheets
12 October 20, 2016

13. • Multiple deliverables
with the “same” content
• Create datasheet with all
data points for products
• Each data point must
be broken out
Implementation Details
13 October 20, 2016
Spec Sheet: Up to 30 / 30 ppm
Brochure: 30 ppm color / black and white
User Guide: 30 ppm

14. Specification Sheet Automation
14 October 20, 2016

15. Specification and Brochure Example
15 October 20, 2016

16. 16 October 20, 2016
Always improving and
looking for new ways
to improve.
Improve consistency
across deliverables by
referencing from one
source datasheet.
Keys and conkeyref
provide flexibility.
Summary

17. 17 October 20, 2016
Human Resources Implementation Review

18. 18 October 20, 2016
Business Need
• Manage content more efficiently
• Reduce authoring/editing time
‒ Take advantage of common content
• Multiple configurations of content
Human Resources Implementation
Summary Plan Descriptions
(SPDs)/Enrollment Guides
• Generally same sections in all
SPDs: Deductibles, What’s Covered,
What’s Not Covered, Co-Pay,
Co-Insurance, etc.
• Multiple sections of legal language,
don’t change from SPD to SPD
• Vary in length 10–400+ pages each

19. Reuse Opportunity
19 October 20, 2016

20. Reuse Opportunity
20 October 20, 2016
50% 30% 20%

21. 21 October 20, 2016
230+ Different Versions of SPDs

22. Human Resources
Implementation
Authoring
Content conversion
Training
• New authoring tools, processes,
ways of authoring
• New Component Content
Management System
• Topic-based reviews rather than
document reviews
Ongoing authoring support
22 October 20, 2016

23. 23 October 20, 2016
Human Resources
Implementation
DITA
Specialized standard DITA
addresses specific needs
• Add/remove elements
• Add new attributes
– Provide access to
formatting attributes

24. Attribute Specialization Examples
24 October 20, 2016

25. Element Specialization Examples
25 October 20, 2016

26. Topic Example—Publication Instructions
26 October 20, 2016

27. Subject Scheme
Pick lists for various
attributes
• Profiling content
• Presentation
Flexible from
project-to-project,
no need to update DTDs
27 October 20, 2016

28. DITA Output Samples
28 October 20, 2016

29. DITA Output Samples
29 October 20, 2016

30. • Shifting responsibilities of designers
‒ More on design, less on implementation
• Authors have more control over the layout
• Faster time to “final” designed output
• Easy updates of colors/images
‒ Use of keys and conkeyref allows for images
and colors to be configured in one place
Productivity Enhancements
30 October 20, 2016

31. 31 October 20, 2016
DITA can have the
same benefits in
non-tech pubs.
Can provide the flexibility
needed from a publishing
perspective.
Summary

32. 32 October 20, 2016
Learning and Training Implementation Review

33. • All content was in Quark®
• Everything is designed around print
• Little reuse, mostly copy/paste (really good
job of copy/paste)
• Instructor support materials/lesson plans are
updated separately from student materials
• Customized content for customers required
lots of manual changes and copy/paste
Learning and Training
33 October 20, 2016

34. Implementation
Goals
Single source of content, version
controlled in a component content
management system
Instructor and student content
integrated for ease of course
customization
Multichannel publishing with
standardized templates
Reused components dynamically
updated wherever they’re used
34 October 20, 2016

35. Structure for Learning
35 October 20, 2016
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4 - 1.6
1.7
Student Text
Instructor Support
Materials

36. Structure for Learning
36 October 20, 2016
Student Text
Instructor Support
Materials

37. Structure for Learning
37 October 20, 2016
• Safety first
• Be environmentally
responsible
• Once every 5,000 miles
Saving money by changing your own
oil is good, but be sure to be safe.
Remember, too, that spilled oil
pollutes our environment. Be careful
and dispose of used oil properly.
You’ll get long life from your car’s
engine if you change the oil every
5,000 miles.
Student Text
Instructor Support
Materials

38. Structure for Learning
38 October 20, 2016
Objectives
Instructor Support
Materials
Student Text
Assessments

39. Structure for Learning
October 20, 2016
Objectives
Instructor Support
Materials
Student Text
Assessments
Summary
Overview
39

40. Authoring Environment Example
40 October 20, 2016

41. Learning Course Layout—Different Customers
October 20, 2016
Template/Vanilla Customer A Customer B
41

42. 42 October 20, 2016
Implementation
Benefits
Dramatic reduction in custom
course configurations
Create instructor slides with
figures and tables
Terms and definitions
Assessment questions
eLearning content with
the topic

43. 43 October 20, 2016
All three implementation
examples use the same
basic processes/concepts.
Combination of DITA and
CCMS implementation
allows for content to be
delivered more
dynamically and efficiently.
With the right tools and
training, DITA can be
implemented successfully
in various verticals.
Summary

44. 44 October 20, 2016
Questions

45. 45

46. ©2016 Xerox Corporation. All rights reserved. Xerox®, Xerox and Design® and “Work Can Work Better” are trademarks of
Xerox Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.10/16 LOVME126 ESP-SC0190 BR20023