Based on the judges’ feedback, our team was able to identify areas of improvement, as well as areas that demonstrate we currently implement information development best practices. We shared the results with our management team, who continue to support documentation.
Detailed Feedback from Several Peer Reviewers
STC Carolina Competitions solicit volunteer judges from practitioners in the field of technical communication. We provide these peer judges with a set of criteria, which they use to review all entries. STC’s peer judges then provide written feedback, both complimentary and critical.
How does peer review and detailed feedback improve your content?
- Acts as quality assurance.
- Adheres to a technical communication standard.
- Ensures content speaks to the end-user.
- Provides social proof and credibility.
Justification for a Budget or Process Improvement
Justifying a budget or process improvement is hard. That’s where peer review really shows its value. STC’s peer judges can identify areas where an increased budget or different process could improve the user experience. This feedback can also validate a proposed solution, which you can then leverage as justification to begin the next phase of your proposed solution.
The STC Award of Merit demonstrated the importance of documentation, style, and consistency for our product. As a result, we justified a process improvement by getting technical writers involved at the development stage.
STC’s competition is particularly suited to the work of our editors and graphic designers because very few competitions encompass both editorial and visual quality. It’s also a nice way to recognize our staff and their hard work.
Recognition for Outstanding Work
Many entries receive one of the three awards, and all awardees are listed on STC Carolina’s website. Documents submitted to the competition are not judged against each other. For more information on awards, see Competition Categories.