RE: Making them read the documentation

[michelle -dot- black -at- sickkids -dot- ca]

Greetings,

I agree with the last suggestion of finding out why they don't read it.
Moreover, my first thought was that they might feel more committed to reading
your manual if you asked them at some point--preferably earlier--during the
development of the manual.

While my experience is with writing for a public and low-literacy
audience--where often the field test is built in to the process--my experience
with both documentation and education is that involving the users in the
planning, even through something as simple as a questionnaire or short
interview, gets them more on side with your project because they feel their
needs are being considered. And, you often get invaluable suggestions, insights
into their context and other insights, even from just a few conversations with
people. However, the flip side of that is that you have to be ready to use some
of their input, or explain why you were not able to, once you've finalized and
sent the product back out there for them to use.

HTH,
Michelle Black
_________________________
Simply Read Writing Service
Toronto, Ontario
www.simplyread.org



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