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Subject:RE: "Button Gravity" and "Warning Gravity" From:"Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC 584 CBSS/GBHAC" <Darren -dot- Butler -dot- ctr -at- Robins -dot- af -dot- mil> To:"Nancy Allison" <maker -at- verizon -dot- net> Date:Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:58:39 -0500
I usually see this sort of thing in user manuals for consumer products -
and even those tend to be more responsible regarding the placement of
"warnings" due to lawsuit avoidance. Highlighting warranty-voiding
actions can be hit-n-miss, it's like some companies *want* you to break
it so that you'll have to buy a new one.
My problem is when a warning or caution paragraph (i.e. electrical
hazards) is placed at the very beginning of a lengthy procedure,
sometimes several steps - even pages - away from the application. The
installation manual for my new gas oven had all the "You could burn-off
your eyebrows; You could blow-up your neighborhood" warnings at the
front. I almost came away looking like a member of the Thompson Twins
(the new wave band not the comic strip) because I forgot to page-back
and re-read something. It was my fault for not doing so but.....
DoD documents are mandated to have Cautions ("you could jack something
up") and Warnings ("You could jack yourself up") immediately precede an
applicable procedure. Is there an equivalent standard in the commercial
world?
-Darren
-----Original Message-----
From:
techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot-
com] On Behalf Of Nancy Allison
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 11:08 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: "Button Gravity" and "Warning Gravity"
Jared Spool talks about "Button Gravity" in user responses to web pages.
If your web page has several segments, and each segment has its own
buttons (like OK and Cancel), most users ignore the buttons in that
segment and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to click
the lowest button they can find. Then they're confused when they don't
see the result of the operation they set up much higher on the web page.
Why do we tech writers suffer from some kind of Note! Gravity, Caution!
Gravity, and Warning! Gravity? Very, very often when I inherit a
document, I find the Notes, etc., at the end of the procedure to which
they apply, sometimes far below the steps they concern. This is not so
bad for notes and cautions, but warnings!
"The users who got electrocuted are going to be mad when they finally
get to the warning!" That's what I always think!
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Darren -dot- Butler -dot- ctr -at- robins -dot- af -dot- mil -dot-
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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