Re: in response to all the messages about RT*M

["Michael A. Lewis" <lewism -at- BRANDLE -dot- COM -dot- AU>]

Jeanette Sainten wrote:

<snip>
> (IMHO)* we're supposed to make a user's life easier -- not laugh
> or scream at them they have a hard time.
</snip>

Indeed. As you imply, the biggest obstacle we have to overcome is the
less-than-proud record of our predecessors. Users don't RTFM because
they have been conditioned, by long years of bitter experience, into
believing that it will be a waste of time. Every time we are tempted to
say "RTFM" (and sometimes we do yield to the temptation), we should also
want to know why they didn't.

However, let's remember that the saying originated from tech support
people, not from tech communicators. The first time I heard it was in
tech support at IBM, close on 30 years ago. IBM's training courses were
generally acknowledged to focus not on "how to use the products", but on
"how to use the manuals". The idea of user-friendly documentation was
about as alien as the idea of user-friendly software, which in those
days hadn't really been thought of. What the RTFM tradition is telling
us, if we'll only listen, is that users won't go mining in a slag heap
for the odd nugget of useful info. If it isn't laid out in properly
accessible fashion, it might as well not be there.
--
Michael Lewis
Brandle Pty Limited, Sydney, Australia
: PO Box 1249                : Suite 8, The Watertower   :
: Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012 : 1 Marian St, Redfern 2016 :
: Tel +61-2-9310-2224        : Fax +61-2-9310-5056       :

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