Jennifer Appleby
I’m a seasoned technical documentarian, armed with the power to turn bewildering tech speak into plain English gold. I specialise in cracking the code of complex software and processes, whipping up documentation that’s so clear it shines.
Need someone to demystify your enterprise software? Bring order to a seething mass of desolate knowledge base topics? Deliver delight in your UI?
Creating order in content chaos sparks my joy! ✨
I’m experienced in creating technical content for cloud-based enterprise software applications in a variety of industries.
I specialise in creating plain-language, task-oriented, user-focused process content to support and improve client engagement. I collaborate with product and delivery teams to research, plan and deliver content needs. I also work with support and client-facing teams to identify gaps in user knowledge.
Content types I have produced include in-product and online help, user guides, administration and configuration guides, release notes, API documents and in-product user interface (UI) text.
This site
- I created this site using Git, Go, Hugo and Visual Studio Code.
- The design is based on the Resume Hugo theme.
- Content is written in Markdown and JSON.
- The site is hosted on GitHub Pages.
Skills
- Technical communication
- Content strategy
- Knowledge management
- Product documentation
- UX writing
- Structured authoring
- Single sourcing
- Agile & waterfall methodologies
- Research
- Online help
- Context-sensitive help
- User guides
- Release notes
- Quick reference guides
- Style guides
- Error messages
- Microcopy
- Developer docs
- API documentation
- Madcap Flare
- oXygen XML Author
- Atlassian Confluence
- Atlassian JIRA
- Git
- Microsoft Visual Studio Code
- Slack
- Google Workspace
- Microsoft Office
- Greenshot
- Miro
- Google Analytics
- Heap
- HTML
- CSS
- Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)
- Markdown
In-product Help (Iress)
Improving the in-product help experience with input from analytics.
Online Help (WingArc)
Created an English language user guide of the parent company’s Japanese dashboard platform (over 2000 pages).
Documentation portal & user docs
Created a documentation portal hosting all user docs for the Inomial Smile product.
GraphQL API docs
Proof of concept project created using Read the Docs and Sphinx.
Online Help (Zendesk)
A selection of user management topics and Zendesk integrations content.
Write the Docs Australia
I'm a member of the planning team for the Write the Docs Australia annual 2 day conference.
Experience
Technical Writer
Created internal technical reference documents for support engineers and end-user software guides for a newly onboarded managed IT services client.
Senior Technical Content Designer
Technical Writer role expanded to included UI content, error messages and user journeys.
Technical Writer
Created and updated context-sensitive in-product and online help documentation. Audited and restructured legacy content. Documented team processes.
Senior Technical Writer
Provided documentation support to eight product managers and their teams. Created documentation plans and published content to match product release schedules. My focus was user management settings and Zendesk integrations content.
Technical Documentation Writer
Created an English language user guide of Japanese dashboard platform (over 2000 pages). Created user guides for new retail and warehousing IoT platform offerings. Delivered product training to retail client store managers.
Technical Writer
Created an online library of all user documentation. Documents created included user, configuration, developer, reference and format guides. Authored monthly newsletters and created marketing material.
E-commerce and social media development
Created and maintained web site. Authored email newsletters.
IT Operations Manager
Developed, implemented and documented operational processes and procedures. Created user guides and tech-notes. Published monthly IT Services newsletter.
Education
Swinburne University of Technology
- Distinctions level marks across all subjects