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As Jonathan aptly observes:
"I feel the real reason we have instructions and warning notes is for the
lawyers . . ."
Exactly. Even though readers tend NOT to read these items, we cannot afford
to leave them out of the documentation and my response was not intended to
suggest that I advocated that. Far from it.
If we want the tips, notes and warnings to be of value, we need to find a
more meaningful way to deliver them that protects the manufacturer from a
lawsuit and still provides critical information necessary to safeguard the
humans working on the machinery.
Thanks to Jonathan for bringing this point to everyone's attention.
Regards,
Pete Sanborn
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-81537 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-81537 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of Jonathan
Soukup
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 1:23 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Notes, tips, and warnings... oh my!
>>>As Pete says, readers don't read notes. But it has been observed that
readers don't read steps either.
To be honest, I feel the real reason we have instructions and warning notes
is for the lawyers, not necessarily the users. Ok, so I'm pessimistic, but
go ask your boss what's more important: Will the user understand the
instructions? OR Will the user file a class action law suit against us
because of these instructions?
-Jonathan Soukup
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