Re: Thinking like a user, or sticking to tried and true?

[arroxaneullman -at- aol -dot- com]

 I faced the same issue when updating documentation here. I decided to keep the overviews, but make them as short and simple as possible. Almost like bulletpoints--esily skimmed.
 
 Most of our users will skip this section, but it's there for the curious.
 
 My one cent (only using half the brain today).
 
 :)
 Arroxane
    
 -----Original Message-----
 From: thejavaguy -at- gmail -dot- com
 To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
 Sent: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 5:32 AM
 Subject: Thinking like a user, or sticking to tried and true?
 
  I am working on a short document that is going to be used to train 
 some network technicians on how to copy settings from one router to 
 another. The documents that this document was based on have had an 
 overview section at the beginning. The document that was delivered to 
 me to edit & format didn't have any content in this section, but I 
 could fairly easily create content based on the rest of the document. 
 
 However, in thinking about what my users are like (my SMEs are also 
 net techs), I realize that they're going to immediately skip the 
 overview and jump right into the nitty gritty. So, the question is 
 whether to think like a user and leave off the overview, or create one 
 because "there's always been one" and because "it's good practice to 
 start by telling them what you're going to tell them and end with 
 telling them what you told them." 
 
 Which do you do when you're faced with this decision? And why? 
 
 -- -David Castro 
 thejavaguy -at- gmail -dot- com 
  
 
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