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Subject:RE: DFDs Are Great! Was Re: DFD BFD From:Michael Strickland <Mstrickland -at- entriq -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 8 Dec 2004 16:59:36 -0800
Fascinating! When does this compelling script come to the big screen?
--- Chuck Martin <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com> wrote:
Reaching back a bit.....
Tony Markos wrote:
<snip>
As I have posted several times: The major thing that a TW is to do is come
up with a detailed, comprehensive understanding of the essential end-user
tasks, and how all those tasks interrelate - with special emphasis placed on
understanding the interrelationships.
Chuck Martin next comments:
Understanding end-user tasks is a straw man. What technical writers (and
interaction designers) require is an understanding of users' goals.
Tony Markos:
The only thing I know about straw men is the guy in the Wizard Of Oz movie.
Someone else on this listserv accused me of creating a straw man; what the
heck is a straw man?
Actually, I used to use "goal" instead of "task" with my above statement,
but I changed it because because I thought it made the statement more
understandable to many. (Goal is more of an abstract term; many people on
this listserv have real problems with abstraction.)
FYI:
Task, goal, function, process, or activity - they can all refer the same
thing. For example "Plan for Retirement" can be, depending upon your
preference, a task, goal, process, function, or activity. This is simply a
matter of "different strokes for different folks" - thats all.
Tony Markos:
>From the Gospel according to Ed Yourdon [insert clap of thunder here]: "ONLY
by following the flow of data [in task analysis] can we come up with an
understanding [and therefore be able to explain to
others] the underlying logic of a system".
Chuck Martin:
Why do users have to understand the logic of a system.
Tony Markos:
It very well might be that the users don't need to understand the underlying
logic of the system. But, the TW has to have a comprehensive understanding
of the underlying logic of the system in order to properly orgainze his/her
thoughts, in order to give the user whatever he/she needs in a user-friendly
fashion.
Chuck Martin:
Users are people, and people are not logical. So then the question is: why
hasn't the system been designed to accommodate the user, rather than forcing
the user to accommodate to the system.
Tony Markos:
Good point! And, in the main, user-friendly systems are systems that don't
require that the user jump around to do essential tasks. These are systems
designed to tightly defined modules. And prerequiste to tight design
modules are tight analysis modules - that can only come from Data Flow
Diagrams.
Chuck Martin:
Users do *not* care about how systems work. Only engineers and others with a
stake in producing systems care how they work.
Tony Markos:
This is been my experience with users also. However, there are those on
this Listserv that have told me, in no uncertain terms, that users like to
learn all about the "hows". My opinion: Either some users need to "get a
life", or some TWs are smoking something funny (in making such a comment).
Chuck Martin:
This [users not caring about how systems work]is a fundamental concept lost
by too many people producing systems, especially those preaching process.
Tony Markos:
The people on this listserv who have told me that the user care alot about
"how" the system works are, if I remember correctly, all anti-process types.
Good process - minimal but essential - is critical to user friendly
documentation.
Tony Markos
Focused On The Essential Like A Laser
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