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Subject:online doc vs hard doc From:Kenneth Marks <xxltall -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 12 Jun 1998 13:19:22 PDT
My company, which produces software products, is also struggling with
this question. I suppose a great many companies are.
To me, entirely replacing hardcopy docs with online docs doesn't make
sense. Neither is it sensible to produce duplicate sets of information,
one hardcopy, the other online. I think it's best to (a) identify what
kinds of information are suited to each medium, with the expectation
that some kinds will be well suited to both, and (b) produce hardcopy
and online information accordingly.
Here's how I've divided up the software information spectrum so far:
Hardcopy
--------
Product features
Planning considerations
Installation tasks
Setup/configuration tasks
Examples of key user tasks
Online (assumes a GUI)
----------------------
Product features
Planning considerations
Tutorial (user task scenarios)
User tasks (how to)
Contextual help
Reference information
Error messages
Troubleshooting
Do others generally agree with this approach? If so, what changes and
additions would you make to the divisions?
PS: It's useful to bear in mind that almost all online information can
be printed and read later, away from the workstation.
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