RE: encouraging learning by experimentation?

[Richard Lippincott <richard -dot- lippincott -at- ae -dot- ge -dot- com>]

Gary S.  Callison asked: 

>So how do you write for an
>audience that includes both these guys AND the idiot with some wrenches,
>without insulting some and confusing others? 

...and then provided a pretty good answer to his own question.

Here's another variation on solving that problem. 

I worked on some manuals called "Job Guides," they were aimed at both the
experienced and the novice aircraft mechanic.

The format was a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 pages size. Left hand pages were text, right
hand pages were illustrations keyed to the text on the facing page.
(Illustrations were repeated as needed so that every left-hand page had all
the appropriate figures on the facing page.

The steps were written with certain keywords in boldface. The novice user
would read all the words, but the experienced mechanic would be able to read
only the boldface. It would look something like this (substituting all caps
for the boldface):

1. INSTALL THE vibration ACCELEROMETER  
    in the steps that follow. Refer to Figure  1.
    A. INSTALL the TWO 12-point BOLTS  
        THROUGH THE FLANGE on the accelerometer 
        and through the front frame aft/HPC forward flange.
       (1)  Attach one bolt to a nut plate on the front frame 
           aft flange. TORQUE TO 160-190 LB IN.
       (2)  Attach the other bolt with a self-locking nut. Torque to 
             160-190 lb in.
2. CONNECT THE vibration accelerometer HARNESS TO THE 
      vibration ACCELEROMETER in the steps that follow.
     A. Remove the protective covers from the connectors/connections.
     B. Apply side-to-side pressure and push the cable connector on the
connection.

It worked well, the tricky part was knowing how much (how little?) to
boldface.
--Rick Lippincott
  Lockheed Martin
  Saugus, MA 





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