RE: Screen captures (was RE: TECHWR-L Digest, Vol 35, Issue 14)

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Tom Johnson wrote: 

> Wow, that research is really interesting. I've always done partial
> screenshots, although not as small as some in the article. After
reading
> the
> article, I'm now rethinking my approach.
> 
> By the way, you can read the full article (not just the abstract)
here:
> http://www.iwm-kmrc.de/workshops/visualization/gellevij.pdf

When I read the description of the research, I immediately suspected
that the "partial screenshots" would be exactly what they turned out to
be: useless wastes of space. It doesn't surprise me at all that they
didn't help readers -- I'd have been shocked if they did. 

How does it help _any_ user, novice or expert, to see the word "Video"
floating in space with a mouse cursor next to it? Or to see a context
menu with "Rename" highlighted? How does that in any way clarify or
enhance the instruction "Click your right mouse button and choose
Rename"? By showing you how the word looks when _highlighted_? 

I've seen far too many manuals crammed full of these kinds of useless
illustrations. I've seen manuals with screen shots of every stupid
notification or error message -- for instance, the text "A message box
informs you when the XYZ process is finished" is followed immediately by
a screenshot (complete with figure number and caption). It's a popup
containing the words "XYZ process finished" and an OK button. How does
that picture help anyone? 

Yes, for a complicated interface, judiciously used screenshots are
helpful. Although I tend to agree with Michael West that if the
screenshots require lots of circles and arrows (a la "Alice's
Restaurant"), maybe the time should be spent on improving the usability
of the interface, such as dividing that monster dialog box into several
well-organized tabs. 

But a large portion of the screenshots I've seen in software manuals
serve only to pad the page count. 

Richard


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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