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Pardon me, but this I believe to be both mistaken and counterproductive.
I think you'll find in *most* cases, the *user* is not the one who has made the purchase of the product. Someone present or past in their organization obviously did--but the folks who actually *use* these products are fairly seldom the ones who made the buying decision.
Thus, each new user must be "sold" on the reasons for using the product; more importantly, the benefits to be derived from learning to use it *well*. Separating an exposition of the actual, verifiable benefits--suitably treated to clearly demonstrate them--does the average user a disservice.
As I am sure you know, too often the technical manuals are put on the shelf and rarely, if ever, read. I believe that part of this is because so many are so badly done and that they ignore the need to address the average user with the reasons *why* they should take the time and give the attention necessary to master the tool.
In fact, I believe your attitude is one that has fostered an artificial distinction between what is "tech writing" and what is "marcom writing". In reality, I believe most sincerely there should be a broad overlap.
David
-----Original Message from Marilyn Robbins <MRobbins -at- ncen -dot- com>-----
My two-cents worth: In *most* cases, once the user has our technically written user guides in their hands, they do not need to be sold on the benefits of the product as they have already purchased it. Now all they want to do is find out how to use it.
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