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What they said. It depends on the audience. I wouldn't use a "get a cup
of tea" reference in a technical document, even if one was required
through poor design. Instead I'd use a more direct approach and specify
how long it might take, or pressure the developer to provide some visual
feedback to the user.
I have seen the tea reference (actually it was coffee) in a manual and
it worked really well. It impressed me that the writer/designer knew
their audience very well. It was for flat pack furniture. After you
opened the box, the first thing you saw was the loose-leaf manual using
pictures to illustrate how to put together the pseudo-wooden beast. The
front page showed in pictures all the bits you were supposed to have and
labelled them. Then in bold type there was something like "Stop. The
following assembly instructions are complicated. Before starting, go get
yourself a cup of coffee. Read through the instructions and check you've
got everything listed on this page." The instruction set you up well,
effectively stopped that rush to complete the project (well it did for
me), and put you in the right frame of mind to proceed.
Rob
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