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Hello to all. I have searched the archives for this topic and came up
empty-handed. I am working on a software installation manual, and one of the
procedures includes steps that describe starting and going through the
installer. The installer tool is InstallShield. As you all know, most
installers display similar windows that we have all seen (welcome, license
agreement, etc.). I click right on by those windows in any installer (not
just ours) because I know what they say, having seen them numerous times. My
question is the following: does it make more sense in an installation
procedure to: 1) "gloss over" these common windows and only address in
detail windows that are unique or specific to our product or 2) address all
windows, regardless of how many million times users may have seen some of
them. #1 is the approach I am currently using--I feel that the space it
would take to document these common windows is only so much eye garbage for
most users. I am questioning whether #1 is the best approach, however,
because I observed a user installing the product a few months ago and it
appeared to throw him that the procedure addressed only some of the windows
he was seeing. This user was a field engineer from within our company, and
these are the people who usually install our product. These field engineers
are exposed every day to countless products (hardware and software), some of
which they are familiar with, some not--therefore, they can be easily
confused if something they encounter doesn't match the documentation.
It seems, as I typed the last few sentences, that I have answered my own
question--according to the tech writing mantra, "Know your audience," I
should provide extreme hand-holding if that's what the audience needs. I
guess I just got the feeling that this particular engineer was atypical and
that most field engineers would not be thrown by such a simple thing. But
that is mere speculation on my part, and I suppose I should be catering to
the lowest common denominator.
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