RE: The New Communication (was Formality going Bye, Bye)

["Jim Shaeffer" <jims -at- spsi -dot- com>]

> What does this include?
The irony of the New Communication is that so many of us now make our
livings writing words to describe the Graphical User Interfaces that
were introduced with promises that they would make documentation
obsolete. 

(I find Collin's points 2 and 3 much more stimulating that tired debates
about usage.)

Must interactive technologies be used in place of screenshots and simple
description? I've seen posts from help authors who refuse to even
include screenshots since the help is context sensitive anyway. 

Should our delivery be interesting? Doesn't that violate the principle
that we should not draw attention to the writing / presentation. "Just
the facts ma'am." 

Jim Shaeffer


> 
> 1. Less formality for the greater user base.
> 2. Incorporation Interactive technologies (Captivate, Video,
> Interactive help (smart help), etc) must be used in place of
> screenshots and simple description.
> 3. Creating new and interesting deliveries of written and online
> material.
> 
> How is this to be done?  Well, I have my ideas, but what are some of
> yours?
> 
> -Collin Turner
> --


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