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Subject:RE: Another Newbie question about procedures From:"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 16 May 2005 15:52:47 -0400
Sharon Burton wrote:
> The original poster identified the audience as experienced
> users. In that
> case, they know how to cancel out of something, unless the
> interface is
> really bad. In that case, you can say before the procedure:
> "Cancel at any
> time by clicking the Bob button."
>
I love it -- the Bob button!
Agreed. I may have been addressing the generic issue you raised (I
can't remember now, but what you say makes sense, so I think I was
referring to the "in general" case.)
> Most people only read the part of the manual that they need
> right now and
> don't read earlier stuff, <snip>
Agreed again. What *was* I thinking? Not enough coffee, maybe...
> But overall, given that the average interface has a Cancel
> button, for most
> audiences, you don't need to tell people how to back out,
because, in
> general, if they don't know what they Cancel button does, the
> knowledge gulf
> is too big for your manual to correct.
>
Except in the cases where "Cancel" does something more complex and
quirky, which I've seen occur, I'd agree again.
Bonnie Granat | www.GranatEdit.com
bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com
Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
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