Re: Boring documentation?
However, I am trying to say that we all could learn something from
books like the "For Dummies" series. At the very least, we could spend
the time to find out why so many people use those books. I don't know
about you, but I'd love to have the readership rate that they have.
Imagine, technical documents so well done that the masses actually buy
them and use them.
On another note, if our manuals are not being used or are seen as a
last resort, what is our value? I don't want to be option F when my
annual review comes around.
I think there's a big difference between a readership
rate and a service to the reader. As a user, I'd love for
end-user commercial products to be so well designed that
they were largely intuitive and documentation was only
needed as a reminder or for advanced tasks. However,
if I did get stuck or wanted to do something I didn't
do very often, I'd definitely want the documentation to
be there and easy to use.
For more complex software and reference material (and
for simpler products with confusing interfaces :-> ),
I think we provide a crucial service. But I still don't
think that I'd judge the usefulness or quality of a
document by how many people read it.
-- Janice
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Follow-Ups:
- RE: Boring documentation?, Bonnie Granat
References:
RE: Rhetoric And Technical Writing?: From: Steven Brown
Boring documentation?: From: Geoff Hart
Re: Boring documentation?: From: David Loveless
Re: Boring documentation?: From: Janice Gelb
Re: Boring documentation?: From: David Loveless
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