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D~One thing she said seemed particularly germane to many
D~discussions on the list, which I will paraphrase. Many
D~technical writers are at the advanced beginner stage
D~of proficiency with the software they are documenting.
D~Thus, they spend a lot of time and space documenting
D~what they are familiar with -- which tends to be
D~navigating the menus. They do not necessarily take the
D~time to document at a deeper level and how to
D~effectively use the software in a task-based way. Less
D~time should be devoted to instructions such as Click
D~Save, and more time to understanding the software at a
D~deeper level.
I would say some writers even spend (waste) oodles of time, pages and the customer's time writing about how to navigate their document. Page after useless page of how to move around in the document, and no content.
Look at the pages and identify what is actual unique content that tells the reader something they wouldn't already know about using the product, compared with the reams of meandering drivel droning on about how to find information in the document or how to Save a file by going to File... (on the toolbar that appears at the top of your computer screen) and using your mouse to move the cursor over top the words that appear in the drop down file menu that say Save.
Basically these documents put the customer on an Arthurian quest for the holy grail of Content.
"oh look" crieth the techno-savvy customer reading a document written by a techno-stooge, "I finally found a page with some seemingly relevant DIP switch settings... but the actual description of this complex and esoteric switch I need looks a bit sparse... like the document author parroted some quick leave-me-alone comment by the designer without actually understanding what it really does... So we must continue the quest..."
I've reduced the page count of these documents by 30%, while increasing the content by 30%. And golly! This magically improves the clarity and ease of use of the document at the same time.
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