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> My problem now is that I do not know beforehand which functionality
will be delivered
> in every particular light version. Has anyone ideas of how to deal
with that in the
> documentation.
It really depends on the audience. Iff I look at our situation: almost
all our manuals are reference manuals, written for the sytem
administrators. They need to look up what all the functions and fields
actually do, how the system operates, etc. They will not go through each
and every page unless it is necessary. Therefore, information that
doesn't apply to their situation will not be read and won't bother them.
But the extra (not redundant!) information is there, so they can see
what they are missing, and that's the marketing gem. They can read what
they are missing and decide on this they need the thick version.
If it's an end user's manual, it's a different story. Users need
instructions and want to know how to perform tasks. If they are
confronted with functionallity that isn't there, they might get
confused. In this case the extra information is redundant and therefore
unwanted. And, on top of this, the thicker the manual, the less inviting
it is.
Also, end users are not the decission makers, so they do not need any
marketing information. The manager had his or her reasons to go for the
light version, knowing what's in the light and in the thick version. The
manager can always decide to go for the thick version when necessary.
Most of the times the manager is no end-user and thus won't read the
manual. He reads the marketing brochures instead. Extra information in
an ensd-user manula is no marketing tool, because it is be misidrected.
For end-users, I suggest a core manual (for the light version) than can
be complemented with the necessary modules (ring-bound).
PS. Pearl, isn't it a little odd to correspond this way considering we
once shared an office? Groetjes, Jeroen.
Jeroen Hendrix
Technical Communications
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Mediasystemen B.V., a Triple-P company
POBox 32, 2060 AA Bloemendaal, the Netherlands
Fax: +31 23 526 0072
Tel: +31 23 525 9010
mail to: jhe -at- mediasys -dot- nl http://www.mediasys.triple-p.com
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