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How do you document step-by-step instructions for an ever-changing GUI?
The horns of the dilemma:
Horn 1: We are moving our software products to a "3-tier architecture". Tier 1 is data, tier 2 is the executables, tier 3 is the presentation layer. The strategy is that the independent presentation layer will allow our software to run anywhere and everywhere (desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, hand helds, PDAs, cell phones and devices that haven't been invented yet).
Horn 2: Our users need detailed, step-by-step instructions for every task they can perform while using our software. They complain that we don't give them enough step-by-step procedures, and they have amply demonstrated their need for them over the years. Further, it is obvious that there is no such thing as too much hand holding or too great a level of detail.
Horn 3: Our user documentation is in the form of context sensitive Help files. Traditionally, Help files are tied to executables. Our plan, is that the executables will remain constant while the GUI (presentation tier) adapts itself to any and every delivery device.
Horn 4: The strategy of the independent presentation layer is part of our plan to get our software to be installed and used by people who are even less technical than our current user population.
I'm looking for both conceptual and technical advice. None of this stuff is due yesterday, so this is a planning issue, not an emergency.
Thanks in advance,
Jim Shaeffer (jims -at- spsi -dot- com)
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