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: Text is bad: Was Ideas in Motion From:edunn -at- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Fri, 17 Mar 2000 15:22:15 -0500
While I haven't really been following the thread closely, I do have a couple of
examples of illustration instead of text. Mercedes produced a maintenance and
operations manual for a line of truck which contained no text. The entire manual
was pictures, illustrations, and pictograms. The manual had to be useful to a
largely illiterate audience.
Also, one of the best tests I ever heard of for a tech writer, involved a series
of steps that were to be improved. One of the best improvements was to produce
an illustration.
Effective communication is not always best accomplished by the written word.