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It's only intuitive in retrospect. Some of those people might want to watch a user totally new to Macs struggle at first. Geesh. I'm a happy Mac user, but I know better than that.
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From: techwr-l-bounces+weissmanj=abacustech -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [techwr-l-bounces+weissmanj=abacustech -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Deborah Hemstreet [dvora -at- tech-challenged -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 11:21 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Mac vs PC users
I once had a supervisor get angry with my writing. She complained that
any idiot off the street could install our hi-tech medical systems
because of my instructions. I thought that was good.
She made me take out a lot of "basic" stuff. Two years later the new
Service and Support manager complained that my instructions were not
complete enough. That he had "idiots" in the field... and they needed to
be nursed through everything.
I suppose, and perhaps I'm wrong, but if I'm writing online Help and the
procedure is about Saving a File,
To save a file
1. On the File menu... The save dialog box appears...
2. In the Save dialog box...
I SUPPOSE I could leave all that out. BUT assuming (bad word, my mom
used to say ass=u+me=assume) that someone is looking up how to save a
file, the instructions should be complete. I don't think I need to say
it over and over... but IF this is HELP, then the information should be
there for the beginner as well as for the advanced user.
My problem, is there is a lot of stuff that everyone keeps telling me,
MAC users know how to use it. I ask, but what about people who are new
to MAC. And I am told, "It is all so intuitive". Then why, if it is all
so intuitive, am I translating 900 pages of a documentation to online HELP?
From my perspective, it is terribly confusing to have up to 4-key
combinations for keyboard shortcuts, AND to have as many as three or
four different ways to do the same thing.
I am writing so many instructions about those FOUR methods it's driving
me nuts! As a user, I get confused when there are too many ways to do
the same thing. I asked what the preferred method was, and answer:
"Everyone is different, we know x is not done much, but someone might
complain if we take it out, and we put y in because someone else
complained, and of course we have to have Z because that is the MAC way
of doing it..."
I will survive... I know its Tuesday but feels like Monday!
Thanks!
Deborah
On 07/06/2010 11:06 AM, Tim Murray wrote:
>> Are there any studies out there that anyone knows of that compare how MAC users interact with computers compared to PC users?
>>
>> Are MAC users quicker learners?
>>
>> I"m writing some Help for a MAC application, and a lot of the feedback I get is, EVERYONE knows this - you don't have to explain it (such as what happens when I click File> Save, or what an Action button is, etc.
> The issues are the same, it's just that the actions to perform a task seem to be easier to grasp on a Mac than in Windows. (And it's Mac, not MAC. Mac is an abbreviation, not an acronym or initialism.)
>
> In other words, if someone doesn't know anything about the concept of saving files, then they'll need more information. But unless you're writing about their very first app, I'd say just "save the file."
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*Deborah E-Shapiro Hemstreet*
*Technical Communication Specialist and Consultant*
*14075 Ironwood Drive*
*Grand Rapids, MI 49534*
*Mobile: +1 616 828 6388
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