About Conficio
Conficio has been dedicated since 2003 to improve the state of software documentation. The company has been founded by Kaj Kandler who has started his computer career with gadgets like a TI SR57, ZX80, Atari 800, PET 2001, Olivetti P652, HP 3000, Apple II, Sirius I, mc 68000, etc. He has worked at SAP and Skyva creating enterprise level production planning and scheduling software.
The idea for Plan-B began to crystallize, when "I realized how software documentation did not reach the vast majority of PC users" Kaj remembers. Kaj often helped friends and family with their PC software problems. "I was struck by the fact that software documentation is written for computer specialists and not for average, non technical, computer users" he says. He realized there was his opportunity to help a lot of people by inventing software documentation that actually works.
The developer perspective on software documentation
Software developers learn new languages quickly. Their training permits them to create a new language around every problem they are asked to solve. For a programmer, architect, coder or any other from of software engineer it is second nature to use a precise language defining a problem and its solution, the software program.
Software documentation tends to get written in close contact between developer and technical writer. Technical writers often do a fabulous job in writing concise descriptions of the concepts and functions a software package does implement. This covers all objects, locations, menus, dialogs, and buttons, etc. In the process all these elements get a name. A technical writers ability to use consistent language and write at a defined reading ability level, for example 8th grade, creates easy to digest documents, for a software engineer that is.
The user's view on software documentation
For end users the world looks different. They lack the training to adapt to each application's specific and new language. We believe it is fair to say that in most cases non technical users even lack the desire to learn this "foreign" language. Consequently most end users have great difficulties to understand the documentation and learn from it.
Conficio builds the next generation of software documentation
Careful analysis brought us to develop software documentation systems that are based on visual instructions and served over the Internet.
To learn more about Conficio's Plan-B - software documentation for the rest of us - go to Conficio's website or to a more detailed description of the Plan-B technology.
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