Re: Sloppy writing, sloppy thinking

["Paul Strasser" <paul -dot- strasser -at- windsor-tech -dot- com>]

>What I'm railing against is the far-too-common
>practice of cataloguing the interface as a *substitute*
>for doing harder to write how-to workflows.

I have to do both.  One client truly wanted a basic interface discussion -
menus, icons, and the like.  Fine and dandy. I gave it to them, in both the
Online Help and User's Guide.  But that's maybe six pages of a 350-page
User's Guide.  The remainder is task oriented, with diagrams showing work
flows of common tasks that are cross-referenced to instructions for the
specific forms to get the job done.

To me, providing the interface explanation is a no-brainer.  It's easy to
create, makes the client happy, and also ensures that "minor" changes to the
interface that somehow crept in between beta 1.13 and beta 1.14 get
documented.  I'm forced to actually look at the menus.

Of course, it is no substitution for explaining how the software works.  But
I haven't yet read a satisfactory explanation why you can't provide both -
especially when the client is happy with the results.

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



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Robohelp X3, from eHelp, lets you quickly and easily create 
professional Help systems for all your Windows and Web-based 
applications, including Net. 

Order RoboHelp X3 in May and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, PLUS
free RoboScreenCapture and WebHelp Merge Module. 
 
Order RoboHelp today: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.