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"Chuck Martin" <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com> wrote in message news:213785 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
> Wow, I pretty much agree with Andrew (and Goober and others). But one thing
> is being overlooked here: what good is knowing your subject well if you
> don't know your users? You can be polished in your writing skills and adept
> at the technology you're documenting, but if you don't know your audience,
> their experience, their knowledge, their comfortability, then the best
> writing you could possibly do (even if it wins awards) will go unused.
While I agree that it is important to know the users/reader, its high time that
we acknowledge that this concept is in NO short supply in the tech writing
world. And all too often the "know the user" excuse is used as a mechanism to
avoid "know the technology." A lot of people seem to think its impossible to
simultaneously know the user and the technology.
Yes, you have to know the user, but not at the expense or in lieu of knowing
the technology and science behind whatever it is you're documenting.
Andrew Plato
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