TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Usability stuff combined with Friday fodder From:mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com To:DJones -at- zebra -dot- com, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 3 Mar 2006 11:45:14 -0500
Jones, Donna
> A friend forwarded me a link to this site, which contains a
> host of bad
> product designs. Many of the problems are solved with a simple bit of
> documentation or with a tech writer being involved at the
> product design
> phase (how's that for getting in a tech writer tie in?).
>
>
>
>http://www.baddesigns.com/examples.html
>
Hmm.
The very first one was the kitchen timer. That could be solved only by
signage or an instruction sheet... or an old person. It's not bad design.
It's mechanical design. You have to wind the mechanism past a certain point
for it to have enough 'reserve' tension to function. It carries all that
'reserve' tension right down to the final second, at which whatever tension
remains is released by the noisemaker (hammer on bell, rattle, whatever)
The very first one that I ever met, almost 50 years ago, worked that way. It
was my grandmother's, and she'd had it for decades.
Electronic versions don't have the problem, but lose some of the charm.
Kevin (who just received the latest build and must get back to work)
The information contained in this electronic mail transmission may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected from disclosure. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer without copying or disclosing it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
