Re: "one action per step"

[John Beatty <jdbeatty -at- EARTH -dot- EXECPC -dot- COM>]

Robert Plamondon (robert -at- plamondon -dot- com) wrote:
: >>o Sometimes defining what constitutes "one action" can be
: >>difficult: Do I write
: >>  "6.  Type your username.
: >>  "7.  Press <ENTER>."
: >>  or do I write  "6.  Type your username and press <ENTER>."  ?

: Putting <ENTER> in a separate step is indefensible.  While some
: people claims that it helps stupid people get through the instructions
: successfully, it doesn't take much field observation to discover that
: stupid people don't use manuals.  In the meantime, everyone else gets
: annoyed or lost in the light, puffed-up instructions, where every dollop
: of information is diluted in a sea of obviousness.

: The school of minimalist documentation, where you tell the reader only
: what he doesn't already know (since restating the obvious accomplishes
: nothing), has a lot to be said for it.

Try "one step for each RESULT"
That would mean:
6.  Remove the eighteen socket-head cap screws securing the cylinder head
to the block.  Remove the head.
7.  Scrape off the old gasket from the head and block...

This way the user looks for the RESULT, as oppsed to the ACTION.  It
works at a technical level for compressors, valves, pumps, and controls.
Operator insturctions are a little different.

6.  Use a 5/8 inch Allen wrince to remove the socket-head cap screws
securing the cylinder head to the compressor block.  Put the cap screws
in a safe place for later use.

7.  Seperate the cylinder head from the cylinder block...

Get the picture?

jdBeatty
jdbeatty -at- earth -dot- execpc -dot- com