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actions and results...was RE: Active versus passive
Subject:actions and results...was RE: Active versus passive From:"Roberts, Dan" <RobertsD -at- bis -dot- adp -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 20 Dec 2000 13:39:24 -0500
fwiw, i'd rather state *why* the user might want to see the Item Summary in
the first place...
"To see a summary of the item's components, click Item Summary to open the
Item Summary window."
This is still repetitious, 'cuz the button and the window are the same. If
they weren't ("click Item to open the Item Summary window") or if the button
was an icon, not text, the need for the window name might be more apparent.
-----Original Message-----
I'm not big on explaining the results of an action: the reasons
for the action, and the steps to perform it, are what matter to me. When
those are clearly explained, I don't see the need to describe the results
unless the results are something particularly notable or unexpected.
A random example:
To open the Item Summary window, click the Item Summary button. The Item
Summary window opens.
The first sentence works fine. The second one, in my opinion, is
unnecessary.
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