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Subject:Re: soft keys vs. hard keys vs. programmable From:Marilynne Smith <marilyns -at- qualcomm -dot- com> To:Melanie Shook <mshook -at- com2001 -dot- com>, "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 20 Jan 2000 12:25:48 -0800
How about discussing it in terms of function: To add a number to your address
book, hold down xx key and press #3. I suspect your users aren't interested in
knowing what you call the keys. They just want to know how to do the tasks.
Good luck.
Marilynne
At 09:05 AM 1/20/00 , Melanie Shook wrote:
>Telecom industry question:
>
>In looking up the definition of soft keys, I realized that what we provide
>in our User Guide is incorrect, technically speaking. The audience is
>end-user office workers & sales people, non-technical.
>
>I want to differentiate between hard keys and programmable keys, which the
>end-user may or may not have pre-programmed to work with our product. For
>example, the hard hold and the programmed hold do not have the same
>function, and this is confusing to some of our users, so we need to document
>the difference. So far we have been calling this difference hard vs. soft
>keys, but now I learn that soft keys and programmable keys are technically
>different - a soft key changes its function based on what is displayed on
>the telephone screen.
>
>Many of the trainers use the terms hard vs. soft. I am a newcomer to this
>industry and this job, so I don't know if I can successfully "educate" the
>trainers as to the correct terms, especially as some of them have been in
>the industry for many years and are much higher up in the company than I am.
>;-) We don't have any true soft keys. So do I leave the technically
>incorrect "hard vs. soft" distinction in our documentation, so as not to
>confuse the users? Or do I make the less appealing, but more technically
>correct, distinction of "hard vs. programmable?"
>
>
>Melanie Shook
