Re: FAQs - Good or bad?

["Robyn Richards" <robynrrr -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

My 2 cents on FAQs based on recent experience:

- In developing new documentation for a product which was already in 
widespread use, I asked Support for 'frequently asked questions' to ensure I 
covered that information in the user guide. I recieved only two responses 
(which, given that Support were said to be 'inundated' with calls, I cannot 
believe covered all the difficulties users were having with the product).

- When responding to Marketing's request for FAQ to be put on the web site, 
the material required wasn't 'traditional' FAQ's, but rather Marketing FAQs 
- a restatement of what the product would do for the client, in small 
'sound-bite-sized' pieces.

- In my documents, I prefer to use a TOC and comprehensive Index to enable 
users to find the information they need. I DO occassionally use FAQs - for 
situations that a) are really 'frequently asked questions', b) cannot be 
easily located in the main text (i.e. where the information is scattered 
over several sections), c) where the situation occurs in very specific 
circumstances and applies to only a small subset of users, or d) the 
situation occurs because of the current state of the product and will change 
in the next version.

Robyn



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