Make your developers 5% more effective with one day of training!
Pericopē Training Services

I’m a published author and senior technical writer with years of experience in all sorts of software, with a special emphasis on security products. I specialize in taking new products from zero documentation to a published documentation presence. I can scope, analyze, and construct your documentation in less time than you would believe possible.

Contact me at h.waterhouse@gmail.com.

HeidiWaterhouseResume

Heidi R. Waterhouse

Documentation Architect. Knowledge Manager. Creating documentation out of chaos, interviews, and GitHub gists.

Projects

Gluster/RedHat

Documentation restructure including needs analysis. This is a software package used by large organizations to create and configure open source clusters of storage.

Deliverables: Gap analysis, needs analysis, restructured TOC, topic templates, minimalist style guide.

Recompiler’s Responsible Communication Style Guide

Helped write a style guide to encourage technology and other organizations to write carefully and mindfully. My section deals with responsible reporting and writing about sexuality.

Deliverables: Style Guide section, workshop content

Training Workshops

Created or co-created and delivered workshops on the following topics:

• Technical writing for developers (The Self-Documenting Coder)
• Technical interviewing (The Hardest Problem in Tech(nical Interviewing) is People: The personal skills in interviewing)
• Workshop for the Responsible Communication Style Guide

Space-Time Insight

Documentation reimagining, restructure, and reformatting. Converted hundreds of pages of engineer-written documentation and screenshots to an elegant, usable set of guides.

Deliverables: User, Administrator, Installation, and Configuration Guides, in RoboHelp format.

Employment

LaunchDarkly

Principal Developer Advocate from Series A to C+. Founding Developer Relations employee. Wrote 20+ original talks, met with customers and industry stakeholders to help determine product direction. Attended or spoke at over 50 events in 2019.

Aeritae Consulting for UCare 2015 Contract

Collated and created documents to meet audit requirements on a tight deadline. Performed documentation gap analysis compared to an audit infrastructure. Created and verified missing security standards and ITSM requirement.

Deliverables: Audit inventory, processes, procedures, standards, best practices

PluralSight 2015 Contract

Streamlined and re-wrote onboarding instructions for educators. Worked with other consultants to deliver desired menuing and navigation options in a WordPress setting.

Deliverables: WordPress site, auxillary printed documentation

BlueTalon, Inc.2015 Contract

Designed and built all the documentation needed for release of an enterprise-class product in 30 days.

Worked locally and remotely to learn the product and the business space and provide the best-possible documentation before an aggressive deadline. Advocated for user experience and industry-standard features.

Deliverables: Security Administrator Guide, release notes, installation guides

Dell/Enstratius 2013-2014 Permanent
Senior Technical Writer

Created a suite of documentation for a new SaaS product managing multiple clouds. Selected tools, direction, document types, and release cadences. Documented agents, API, and interactions with industry-standard clouds. Participated heavily in user testing, analytics, and product design.

Deliverables: Online help, API documentation, User Guide, Getting Started Guide, release notes

Ability Network 2011-2013 Permanent
Technical Communications Lead

Responsible for creating a documentation process and presence in a company without one. Created templates, procedures, and processes for documentation. Automated API documentation to ensure peak freshness and accuracy. Combed through existing documentation, triaged, and fixed it. Advocated for copyright law, automation, and secure document distribution. Managed the work of an intern.

Deliverables: Technical specifications. API documentation. User, integration, and administrator guides

Amdocs International 2009-2011 Permanent
Senior Technical Writer

Documentation expert for the Discovery (Catalog), Delivery, Inventory, and Developer Experience teams. Documented web services, user interface, configuration setting, and installation instructions for a mobile storefront. Worked in an Agile development team to write and fulfill customer stories for new features. Researched, wrote, and revised all technical documentation. Supported up to four separate releases with release notes and document refreshes.  Served as assistant scrum master.

Deliverables: Administrator, configuration, installation, operation, and user guides. Online help. Release notes

SonicWALL, Inc.2008-2009 Permanent
Senior Technical Writer

Technology and documentation owner for the Email Security team. Researched and wrote all technical documentation, and collaborated on interface and marketing writing. Improved document quality to E-class standards, including localization. Worked closely with team to improve product usability. Managed a documentation set over a thousand pages.

Deliverables: Administrator, quick start, and user guides. Online help. Release notes. White papers

Solutions IQ for Microsoft WSUA (Security) 2007-2008 Contract
Technical Writer III

Researched and wrote technical references for use by IT security professionals. Researched administrative tools, security standards, and new features. Integrated disparate features into unified security documents.

Deliverables: Technical References

IronKey, Inc. 2007 Contract
Security Technical Writer

Researched and wrote documentation required for FIPS-compliance. Independently researched and fulfilled compliance requirements. Extrapolated security architecture from meetings and device interface.
Deliverables: User Guide. Enterprise Guide. Product Architecture and Interface Documentation

Volt Technology for Microsoft Security 2007 to 2008 Contract Technical Writer III
Volt Technology for Microsoft Security 2005 to 2006 Contract Technical Writer II, BitLocker
Blacksmith Applications Web Application 2004 to 2005 Contract to Permanent Technical Writer
MQSoftware, Inc. Messaging Middleware 2001 to 2005 Permanent Technical Writer
DeLani Technologies Web Applications 2000 to 2001 Permanent Technical Writer/User Advocate

Speaking credits

• Search-First Technical Writing, Write the Docs 2013 | Open Source Bridge 2013 | PyDX 2015
• New Sheriff in Town, Write the Docs 2014
• Life-Hacking and Personal Time Management for the Rest of Us, Open Source Bridge 2014
• Success Is More Than Not-Failing, Write the Docs 2015
• The Seven Righteous Fights, PyDX 2015 | RubyConf 2015 | Fossetcon 2015 | The Lead Developer 2016
• The Death of Data, APIStrat 2016 | SignalConf 2017
• I Have ADD and So Can — Ooh, Shiny!, Revolutions 2017 | Open Source Bridge 2017

Open Source writing

• Google Doc Camp 2013, GNOME/Mallard Project
• Open Wiscon Accessibility Project

Education

• Macalester College and Hamline University
• Major in English/Technical Writing B.A. in May 1999, minor in Religious Studies