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Re: "They don't need no stinkin' documentation..."
Subject:Re: "They don't need no stinkin' documentation..." From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 5 Nov 2001 11:59:37 -0800 (PST)
Sorry to take so long to respond...was on vacation last week and it's
taking awhile to wwork through 1800+ emails.
> by too much documentation. I found that, by removing the parts that
> everyone already knows, I could make a more artistic presentation."
Real story...
I crerated a user guide for an application being distributed to the
sales team. What with conventions, error messages, instructions,
etc., the guide ran 16 pages. The document included several pages of
what do do when something unexpecred happened because of database or
user error.
Another department took MY document and cut it down to 5 pages.
(Press this, that happens. Click that, this happens) An executive saw
both documents and declared that they other document was more
acceptable. The reason? it presented a better message.
What message? That the software was easier to use and not subject to
errors. As far as using the document to use the application...his
response: "How should I know...I don't have a login and password for
the application."
Who is using MY document? Yup, technical support and user training.
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