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A curious event happened on Christmas Eve involving a "techie" gift and the
gift's user manual. This is the story:
On Dec. 24th, we were at my brother-in-law's house for dinner and gift
giving. He gave his daughter an inexpensive digital camera. Man, was she
excited! She ripped open the package, put the batteries inside the camera,
then tried to make it work. Zip. Nothing. No response.
As the lone tech. writer of the extended family, I suggested, "Read the
manual. It'll tell you how to arrange the batteries. Some tech. writer
worked hard on that manual." Chuckles came from the family circle. "Yeah,
some tech. writer wrote a manual that nobody uses," they sneered.
My husband took the camera to figure out the battery situation. In the
meantime, my niece wisely flipped through the small manual and found the
Batteries section. "Here's how they're supposed to go in," she declared. By
that time, by trial and error, my husband had already correctly inserted the
batteries. The camera's green light flashed, and my niece began to take
pictures.
"How do I display the shots again?" she asked. Once she snapped a picture,
she could see it for only a few seconds. My "techie" husband said, "There's
a way to recall the pictures. Look for a button." Again, I piped up with
"Read the manual. I'm sure it'll tell you how to recall photos you've
already taken."
This time, that poor, lonely manual lay untouched on the floor. "Here's a
button called 'M'," my niece cried out. "Push it," I said. "'M' stands for
'Memory.'" Sure enough, 'M' allowed her to recall and view all previously
taken photos.
And, that poor manual continued to lay untouched on the floor until my niece
put it back into the box.
Is that what our jobs are all about, writing manuals that many users do not
read? I asked myself that question that evening. I decided that no matter
how the users out there may or may not use the documentation we write, some
users definitely will. Those are the users I write for, and think of during
the planning phase.
So, how many of you endure your family's chuckles at holidays or birthdays
where "techie" gifts are given, and the manuals are untouched? Do family and
friends wonder why you do what you do for a living?
Just curious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jenise Cook-Crabbe
Sr. Technical Writer
Pacific Life Insurance Co.
jenise -dot- cook-crabbe -at- pacificlife -dot- com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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