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Subject:Re: Which is correct? or Why either? From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- EXPERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 29 Jan 1999 16:18:16 -0800
At 05:06 PM 1/29/99 -0600, Mark Forseth wrote:
>...I firmly believe in describing consequences (appears, displays, etc.) of
>instructed actions for, say, a functional spec for software yet to be
>created. But when it comes to helping an end user achieve an expedient
>means to an end, I suggest just using the proper noun of the previous
>action's consequential window, dialog box, or what have you, in the
>subsequent step:
>...it obliterates the whole debate/concern over which
>self-evident verb to use.
I'll bet you haven't spent much time at the teaching end of a
classroom! The type of instructions you describe are fine for
sophisticated users; they don't work well at all for the novice.
Novice users appreciate the feedback this "self-evident" verbiage
supplies and they use it to check the validity of their actions.
For newbies, it even helps if you phrase it in the form of a
question. When they see, "Did the such'n'so window open?", they
check the screen, nod their heads, and move on.
It's all a matter of knowing your audience.
-Sue Gallagher
sgallagher -at- expersoft -dot- com
