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Subject:Understanding vs. Instruction From:"M. Dannenberg" <midannen -at- SI -dot- BOSCH -dot- DE> Date:Mon, 30 Jun 1997 10:03:19 +0200
The idea that documentation should tell how the product solves the
user's problems, rather than telling how to do it is throwing out the
baby with the bathwater, in my opinion. Everybody has probably been
annoyed about manuals that explain every stupid menu command of a
program without telling what the whole caboodle is good for, or how to
go about doing anything with it. Falling into the other extreme is
usually not a good idea, though.
A good manual has to do both, inform and instruct. Ideally the two can
be integrated, the instructions should be organised along the ways users
use the product and all that. For very complex products it may ne
necessary to include a separate theory part, but that approach is
probably not advisable for consumer products.
Mike
--
Mike Dannenberg
ETAS GmbH & Co.KG
midannen -at- si -dot- bosch -dot- de
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