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Subject:Re: Marketing/propaganda in documentation From:Susan Mitchell <susanm -at- NCD -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 18 Jan 1994 00:09:03 GMT
The only way to answer this question is to analyze your audience.
You seem to think that your audience is already convinced of the
value of the product. In that case, leaving the hype in will only
irritate those who go to the document for INFORMATION. The goal
is to give readers what they need, not to make them jump through
hoops to find that information.
In article <2D3AD82E -at- mkt -dot- eicon -dot- com>, Patrick O'Connell <patricko -at- eicon -dot- com>
writes:
|> The latest version of an operator's guide I'm working on with 3 other people
|> contains a chapter, close to the beginning, whose title is the company slogan
|> and is written as though the customer still had to be convinced to purchase
|> the product. It contains useful information, but the info:hype ratio is
|> distressingly low.
|>
|> I have a BIG problem with this. I can see where this kind of tool is useful;
|> it's not that I object to its creation. I simply feel it has no place in user
|> documentation -- it should be in a marketing pamphlet or something. If the
|> customer has already purchased product X, I'm afraid s/he will react
|> negatively to finding anOTHER sales job awaiting him/her when they crack the
|> book.
--
Susan Mitchell
susanm -at- ncd -dot- com 415-691-2798
Network Computing Devices, Inc.
