Re: Best technical writing of the season

["Jeff Hanvey" <jewahe -at- comcast -dot- net>]

Funny you should mention that.  A national new magazine (60 minutes;
PrimeTime, or one of their ilk) ran a piece on instruction booklets just
before Christmas.  I believe the product was one of the connex pieces, and
everyone who tried to put it together gave up.  They showed pictures, and
each one was beautifully illustrated, one step per page.  But the book was
very thick, and the participants repeatedly were confused by where exactly
things should go.

The company said it should take something like 8 hours to complete the
assembly.  That was enough to make most people balk. 8 hours for a toy?

Jeff Hanvey
Thomson, GA
jewahe -at- lycos -dot- co -dot- uk
http://www.jewahe.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Cindy -dot- Metzger -at- Dukane -dot- spx -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 2:59 PM
Subject: RE: Best technical writing of the season


>
> My 5-yr old nephew received a Lego kit for a race car. The instruction
> booklet was beautiful! Each page was devoted to one step. Each step was
> clearly illustrated with a large, detailed, color graphic. No words, just
> a graphic showing what parts went where. He followed the steps easily -- 
> all I had to do was hold the assembly in place while he added the pieces.