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Re: Definition of "User-Friendly" Was Re: Engineering design practice

Subject: Re: Definition of "User-Friendly" Was Re: Engineering design practice
From: Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 21:52:43 -0600


While loosely coupled modules may work in some situations, to say there is "only one approach" is too simplified. This process may work when writing engineering documents for engineers, but there are so many other audiences out there and not all of them think (or want to think) like engineers. I will agree that user friendly documentation minimizes the reader having to skip and jump all over the place, but the personality of the audience is a very important element that should not be overlooked. Advanced users require material to be presented differently than beginning users. Online documentation is presented differently than print documentation. There's just to many variables to lump them into a "one method for everything" approach.

Al

Tony Markos wrote:


User friendly documentation is, in the main,
documentation that minimizes the reader having to do
skips and jump-to's. There is really
only one approach to creating such documentation:
Design highly cohesive and loosely coupled modules
of information. And creation of such modules requires
good engineering design practice.


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References:
Definition of "User-Friendly" Was Re: Engineering design practice: From: Tony Markos

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