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Subject:RE: Using the STOP methodology From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <SGallagher -at- akonix -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 14 Sep 2001 12:12:06 -0700
About seven years ago now I was charged with writing docs for a
product aimed at novice users and thought that a modular layout
would suit the product well. I bought Edmund H. Weiss' book (How to
Write Usable User Documentation Oryx Press; ISBN: 0897746392) and
went to town.
Writing to a two-page spread was an interesting intellectual
challenge. I faltered at first, but soon got into a rhythm
and the work progressed. Finally, I was done and the book
was ready to show our beta customers. And you know what?
The hated it. All of them. Every single last reviewer we
had for the product thought it was too simple, too elementary,
didn't cover enough, looked like Mac documentation.
Hrumph.
So I spent the last two weeks of the development cycle
rewriting the book to our normal, sequential, traditional
user manual layout. Same information. Same level of detail.
Much better reception.
Go figure.
-Sue Gallagher
sgallagher -at- akonix -dot- com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Farkas [mailto:farkas -at- u -dot- washington -dot- edu]
> Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 3:16 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Using the STOP methodology
>
>
> I know STOP and I think it can be an effective means of
> designing print
> documents.
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