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Apologies if this reply is late; I get the list in digest form.
I think people are missing part of the point of defining the
audience by focusing on things such as expert and novice.
In courses it teaches, our company talks about "core" vs. "ring"
applications -- rather than apps for novices or experts. This
analysis also seems to apply to writing docs.
Briefly, a core app helps a user who knows lots about the domain
involved. For example, an experienced car mechanic using an
automobile diagnostic program brings plenty of knowledge and views
his automobile diagnostic software as an assistant. Such users are
completely comfortable with all the jargon involved in, in this case,
repairing cars. They're also more comfortable tweaking the software
to meet the demands of their own businesses (and mistrustful of
wizards, etc.) This was apparently true almost from the instant the
mechanic began using the software.
Conversely, though this same user has had and used a bookeeping
application for about as long, this is a ring application for him
(there's a real person here!). That is, its functions are *not* part
of the core business he knows about. They probably never will be.
Thus, he views the bookkeeping software as an expert (not an
assistant as with the core app) and is not comfortable with the
bookkeeping jargon it may present him.
I'm oversimplyfing here and hope I haven't totally trashed the whole
concept.
However, "knowing the audience" from this perspective -- rather than
expert/novice, etc. -- gives documentation writers a perspective
that helps them *understand* what their audiences need.
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Richard A. Danca User Interface Engineering mailto:richard -dot- danca -at- uie -dot- com 800 Turnpike St., Suite 101
978-975-4343 978-975-5353 (fax) North Andover, MA 01845 http://www.uie.com USA
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