TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: User Guide Usage From:Damien Braniff <Damien_Braniff -at- PAC -dot- CO -dot- UK> Date:Mon, 11 May 1998 08:52:24 +0100
Adele,
Our User Guide is a 16 page A5 booklet and covers the "main" user
operations (for those who prefer paper). There is also a Reference manual
(rarely looked at!) and EVERYTHING is in the online help (we use HDK). Our
main porblem is that a lot of users aren't really PC literate so we're
pushing the training dept to include how to use the online help etc as part
of the training courses they run. Virtually every screen has a HELP button
which provides access to info relevant to that screen. We're just about to
implement cue cards for the next version of the software. For the next new
product the aim is to produce everything online with minimal paper docs.
We envisage this will be the help plus more traditional docs in PDF format
which the user can print if they get withdrawal symptoms!!
We're currently checking with users how they like the lit, where they'd
like it to go etc and the above scenario will be adapted depending on the
response we get.