Steps and substeps (was: Documenting installers)

["Jones, Donna" <DJones -at- zebra -dot- com>]

Slight change in topic.

This discussion reminded me of something that I read a few months ago about
whether to write procedures at a very high level or at an all-inclusive
level. The author spoke of including general tasks (numbered 1, 2, 3...)
with detailed subtasks (numbered a, b, c). Of course I can't find the exact
article, but here's an example:

How to Make Ice
1. Acquire an ice tray.
2. Fill the individual compartments of the ice tray with water.
   a. At the kitchen sink, turn on the water.
   b. Hold the tray under the stream of running water. 
   c. Slightly tip and move the tray as necessary until water 
      fills all compartments evenly.
   d. Turn off the water.
3. Place the filled ice tray on a level surface in the freezer.

You get the point. More experienced users can simply read the general steps
and skip the minutia. The less experienced user can read the gory details
for how to perform each specific task. 

I thought this technique had some definite advantages over writing
procedures that include everything you could want to know numbered from 1 to
infinity. I'm using something similar to this for the first time in one of
my current USER GUIDES (yes, we call it that!). It allows me to include all
of the relevant information but give the readers a way to skim over what
they don't need to read in detail.

Donna

---------------
Donna L. Jones
Technical Writer
Zebra Technologies Corp.
Vernon Hills, Illinois
djones -at- zebra -dot- com


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