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<snip>I need your help to settle an argument with a writer in our group
(yeah,
I'm the editor!). The issue is with bullet lists (versus numbers) for
all procedures in a software user guide.</snip>
My response to this is to "know your users!" Are the users mostly
entry-level, low-PC-skilled newbies, or are they veterans to the work and
the PC, or somewhere in between?
<snip>The writer, a long-time purveyor of the information set, argues that
the
information (specifically each screen & task set) may be accessed from
'so many different places and points in the system,' that there's really
NO SEQUENCE AT ALL.</snip>
For anyone but expert users, I recommend that the writer figure out which is
the best way for the users to accomplish their task (i.e., fewest steps to
navigate, using the path of least resistance...), then to document the task,
WITH NUMBERED STEPS, in order to create a linear sequence out of chaos.
<snip>The manual is packed with discrete little tasks, each connected to a
screen in the system.</snip>
Perhaps more expert users could benefit from additional material explaining
the relationships between functions in the system, but I find the KISS*
method the most universally useable option.
Heidi Martin
Technical Communications Supervisor
MCMS, Inc.
Nampa, ID, USA
