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Subject:Re: What *is* user friendly From:WandaJane Phillips <wandajp -at- ANDYNE -dot- ON -dot- CA> Date:Thu, 25 Jan 1996 13:35:27 -0500
Well, this little discussion sure has wandered all over. I feel
compelled to clarify that my buddy was not talking about cartoons, per
se, but, um, lets call them *pert* icons and perhaps even a kind of
guide, like Bob...
A social interface for a user's guide.
The idea buddy holds is that these little goofies make the guide *less
intimidating*.
I think it's an over-reaction to how obviscated guides can be...
probably nobody on *this* list has ever written such a guide, but it is
true that one of the factors behind my decision to take up technical
writing was the terrible manual that came with my bicycle -- I
eventuallyl abandoned the book and put the bike together according to my
own concept/internal model of a bike.
I agree you have to know your audience, understand your product, and
understand the relationship between the two. If that analysis results in
cutsie icons littering my pages, I suppose I'll have to submit.
--
WandaJane Phillips
Senior Technical Writer -- Pablo
Andyne Computing
Usual disclaimers in effect
