Conventions, Intros, Overviews, Help, etc.

[Jeff Elkins <jelkins -at- CARDHEALTH -dot- COM>]

Sorry for my delay, I'm a digest-er...

Elizabeth Kane <bkane -at- ARTISOFT -dot- COM> wrote...

     > I agree that people don't read "conventions" sections. If you
     > want to make sure people know about the conventions you're using, >
     you've gotta put a note about them right where you're using them.

I agree whole-heartedly.  One technique that our department just started
using is placing italicized "tips", or "hints" in the white space.  These
"sidebar" comments contain the hint and a "where to find more information"
note.  This draws the interested user to a place where they will find more
detailed "help."

And John Wilcox <wilcoxj -at- WDNI -dot- COM> wrote:

     > It's been my experience that most users would rather see too
     > much info in a manual than not enough.

But here I disagree.  Too much can be detrimental.  Case in point: Our
company does contract work for several clients whos needs differ, as does
the scope of our services to each.  One of our clients utilizes our
program/system, but maintains all of the operations except the Accounting
function themselves  -- hence, their documentation needs are rather
extensive.  The education/skill level of these folks runs the gamut (maybe
I assume too much), but for the past two years they have all decided that
it is much easier to call Tech Support than crack one of the manuals --
there are seven, plus a few guides, and I believe that they are just
overwhelmed.

Now I'm open to the option that they might feel our documentation sucks ;-(
but I truly don't believe that.  People are generally (here I go again)
lazy, though, and following instructions can sometimes be hard work...

Jeff Elkins, Documentation Specialist/Trainer
jelkins -at- cardhealth -dot- com

P.S. Working on the "job title" issue -- I've checked the archives,
does anybody have a comprehensive list of TW titles? I missed the
STC conference...

     "What's money?  A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and
     goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."
     -- Bob Dylan