Sperry Marine – creating a content migration strategy and ongoing authoring service
When did we work with them?
From 2022 to present
What did we do?
Content migration, information design, tools consultancy, and technical writing
What did they say?
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank, on behalf of the Sperry Marine team, the 3di team for your continuous support, your great work, fantastic adaptability and brilliant relationship with the Sperry team.”
Project manager at Sperry Marine
Key stats
1,752
Pages of content migrated to new formats.
12
Staff members assigned to Sperry Marine’s project.
The impact
- Consolidated Sperry Marine’s content into new, modern formats.
- Updated information models and created new documentation processes.
- Continue to deliver documentation in both HTML and PDF formats.
What was the context for 3di helping Sperry Marine?
For over 100 years, Sperry Marine has been providing safe, efficient, and reliable navigation solutions for the commercial and defence maritime industry. With a worldwide presence, spanning 10 countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Sperry Marine provides a full range of maritime navigation tools, including Radar and Compass systems, as well as integrated bridge and control systems.
Sperry Marine produces the VisionMaster Net network bridge solution, which is used worldwide by large ships to aid safe and efficient navigation. However, documentation for this product had been initially created in different authoring tools, to produce the different outputs needed. These outputs included printed user guides, installation & configuration manuals, and embedded help.
However, this piecemeal approach led to issues with version control, as well as inefficiencies in updating all parts of the documentation with each new launch. Add to this the amount of content needed to support such a complex product and it became clear that Sperry Marine needed a documentation partner to help improve their approach to documentation.
The challenges Sperry Marine faced
VisionMaster Net is a complex product that helps facilitate the navigation of large, commercial ships, so the accuracy of the documentation is very important.
Sperry Marine had a combination of challenges. Firstly, their current content in Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker, and Adobe RoboHelp was inconsistent and difficult to maintain. Sperry Marine needed their content combined into one definitive single source, in a single authoring tool. This was no easy task, as Sperry Marine had over 1,700 pages of content that needed to be migrated. Then, new templates needed to be set up to produce print-ready manuals and context-sensitive help that could be embedded in the VisionMaster Net software.
There were also considerations involving the presentation of this documentation. Strict maritime regulations impact the presentation of HTML help content, and Sperry Marine was also undergoing a rebranding at the time of the project.
Are you facing similar challenges with your documentation?
The solution 3di created for Sperry Marine
The 3di team:
- Analysed existing content to identify what content was being reused across the different outputs, to help streamline the migration process.
- Reviewed the existing information model and documentation, and recommended a new approach for Sperry Marine’s documentation.
- Migrated over 1,700 pages of content into MadCap Flare, including technical diagrams, software screenshots and text.
- Set up new templates in MadCap Flare, conforming to Sperry Marine’s new branding guidelines.
- Worked together with Sperry Marine to develop a context-sensitive help that can be embedded in the VisionMaster Net software.
- Delivered PDF and HTML outputs for VisionMaster Net 3.0, then continued to maintain content for subsequent releases.
The results of the collaboration between 3di and Sperry Marine
The 3di team:
- Helped Sperry Marine find and implement the perfect technical writing tool for their needs. As a result of migrating their content from multiple sources, Sperry Marine now has a single source of content in one authoring tool, meaning regular updates are much faster and easier to manage.
- Created new documentation templates that match Sperry Marine’s new branding,
- Provided consultancy services that recommended a new information model and style guide.
- Are continuing to provide technical writing and consultancy services for more of Sperry Marine’s products.