TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Mac vs PC users From:Mike Stockman <mstockman -at- gmail -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L Writing <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 6 Jul 2010 14:38:55 -0400
On Jul 6, 2010, at 2:06 PM, Dan Goldstein wrote:
> Dragging a disc to a trash can in order to eject it is just as
> counterintuitive as pressing "Start" in order to turn something off. I'm
> sure that in both cases, a whole crowd of engineers felt that it was
> obvious. And there were probably two neglected tech writers way in the
> back, jumping up and down and waving their hands, trying to avert
> idiocy. Again. In vain.
To be fair to Apple: dragging the disk to the Trash wasn't the primary way to perform the task... it was a shortcut. For ejecting disks, the primary methods were Eject Disk (I forget which menu it was on, but it was always there) and Put Away. Dragging to the Trash was a shortcut for Put Away.
One of the principles of Mac UI design was that you should never have *only* a shortcut. That is, Command-S can be the shortcut for saving only if there is a File > Print command as the primary way to carry out the task. For a detailed history of this particular instance, see <http://www.mackido.com/Interface/TrashingDisks.html>
But to get back to the original discussion, for the documentation we need to know what the developers/designers feel is the new-user way to perform a task, and what's the power-user way. Windows or Mac, doesn't matter. On Windows, most app have File > Print, a shortcut Control-P, and even a visual shortcut Print icon. If you can't determine what a new user would do vs. an expert user, you need to find out, and organize your material accordingly. (If there isn't a slower-but-more-obvious method for new users, maybe that's a red flag for the developers.) It's possible to document for both groups, but you have to know about the design and intentions first.
Mike
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gain access to everything you need to create and publish information
through multiple channels. Your choice of authoring (and import)
formats with virtually any output. Try Doc-To-Help free for 30-days. http://www.doctohelp.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
