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|> I'm preparing a hypertext document about a product. I conceive it as
|> three chunks:
|> a tutorial chunk, organized by tasks
|> an extensive reference chunk, command by command,
|> with all the details
|> and a reference summary chunk that just gives the syntax
|> of each command.
[...]
|> Can anyone point to actual usability research results on
|> organizing Reference material by task vs alphabetically,
|> particularly in combination with tutorial material already
|> organized by task?
If your material is modularized appropriately, nothing stops you from
surfacing your information to the user both ways. Then, your users can
choose which way to search. This is easier or harder to do based on the
tool or markup format you are using to create the document, and your
note doesn't say which so I can't speak to implementation details. You
can implement this using SGML modules, implement some HyTime style of
link management, and get the backend to produce your groupings organized
in the two ways you said with intermediate link-lists on separate
screens. The user can make a session choice to see one or the other or
both. Or you can make it an install option.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
--
Len O. "I would rather be cynically accurate than
saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- co inoffensively euphemistic." - Me
***My opinions; you go get your own.***
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