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Re: New poll question? (Was Re: Pinsky poem in the Atlantic "Jar of Pens")
Subject:Re: New poll question? (Was Re: Pinsky poem in the Atlantic "Jar of Pens") From:"Paul Strasser" <paul -dot- strasser -at- windsor-tech -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 16 May 2002 13:27:43 -0600
After some thought, it's occurred to me that I'm not considered an expert on
the software, but rather an expert in coherently explaining how the software
works. That sounds like a "difference without a difference" but SMEs and
Users alike usually don't ask me about the detailed workings of the back-end
PowerBuilder or Oracle code (although they expect me to know the location of
the answer in the documentation!) Rather, they ask me to write detailed
training manuals of high-end functionality, create charts or graphs that
explain the information flow in software, write all the help, and other
similar tasks. And I do so with relish (and mustard).
I suppose everyone expects me to be "Super-User." This is the most common
hat I wear during the whole software development process. I'm always
playing the surrogate user, and it's from that context that my own assumed
expertise derives.
Paul Strasser
Windsor Technologies, Inc.
2569 Park Lane, Suite 200
Lafayette, Colorado 80026
Phone: 303-926-1982
FAX: 303-926-1510
E-mail: paul -dot- strasser -at- windsor-tech -dot- com
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