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Subject:Re[2]: What about minimalism? From:Karla McMaster <mcmaster%pcmail -dot- cti-pet -dot- com -at- CTI-PET -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 12 Oct 1994 09:55:39 EST
Bob Handlin wrote:
> I rarely read technical manuals (FrameMaker 3.0 was the only time I even
> tried to go cover to cover, and I failed). Manuals are too long, and I've
> got work to do. I assume that my readers are in the same boat. I assume
> that the vast majority of users use the product until they get stuck, then
> go to the index of the book and jump straight to the answer.
I have always believed the same thing, which is why a well done index is so
VITAL to a document. RoMay...I can't give you any hard evidence to support your
desire to do an index, but I'll provide testimonial to the fact that a manual
is useless to me unless it has an index.
I was thinking that this method of using manuals also supported the idea that
has been discussed before (sorry I can't remember attribution), about an
introductory piece being bound separately. I'm thinking of a piece that has
been discussed on this list, before--the 101 tips for using Quicken. This
document provided a great overview of some of the really neat things you could
do with the product, which then you could look up in the other documentation
provided. It was not too lengthy, and was easily read in bed (well--that's
where I read it, anyway). The only thing I might add would be pointers to page
numbers in the documentation set where the how-tos were discussed more
explicitly.
Karla McMaster, technical writer
CTI PET Systems, Inc., Knoxville, TN
mcmaster -at- cti-pet -dot- com
