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> Do you typically include screen shots of installer panels in documentation
> aimed at a technical audience?
>
> We market software products that are used by other software developers, a
> tech-savvy audience. The installer walks the user through a series of a
> dozen or so uncomplicated, self-explanatory panels. I see no reason to put
> screen captures of all these panels in the doc, but I'm getting flak about
> that decision from somebody who is sometimes (but not always) right.
Captures of every screen are excellent in the design specs because it ensures
that everyone knows what the application is supposed to look like. In the user
documentation they should be used much more judiciously.
The whole point of using an installation wizard is that it should communicate
everything the user needs to know about accomplishing a task. Showing pictures
of the wizard in the procedure is almost always redundant and, by bloating the
procedure over multiple pages, increases the likelihood that the user will get
lost.
In theory, the wizard shouldn't need any documentation (beyond how to launch)
unless there is something about it which can't be explained in the embedded
text.
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