RE: Chattiness in manuals

[Gordon Mclean <Gordon -dot- McLean -at- mclarensoftware -dot- com>]

I'd be happy to read this in a small piece of software meant for personal
use. In fact I'm sure I've seen something just like that (might've been in
the UI though).

However, as I write guides for the installation and configuration of
business enterprise systems, it's not something I'd use. As was said, know
your audience.

Ohh and I think the particular "make a cup of tea" example is OK in that
context, but not when it comes to usage. For the example given, masking a
product deficiency (regardless of WHY it takes so long) is an admission that
"hey, we know this takes too long". As long as you continue in that vein and
are consistent with the approach then it may have a place in your
documentation.

May!

Gordon McLean
Senior Technical Author 
McLaren Software

-----Original Message-----
From: Sarah Bouchier [mailto:Sarah -dot- Bouchier -at- exony -dot- com] 
Sent: 17 October 2006 14:21
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Chattiness in manuals

I saw something the other day that said, "Use the mouse (not the furry
>kind.)" It just made me want to hit something really hard.

<laughs>  I quite like manuals that give me the feel of a real person
somewhere out there on the other end, but that would have made even +me+
twitch.

As an attempt at humour, it's patronising as all hell.

S.

---
Sarah Bouchier
Technical Author

exony

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