RE: Documenting the user interface

["John Rosberg" <jrosberg -at- interwoven -dot- com>]

While Janice is right, that products are purchased to achieve a specific
goal, not all users had input into, or knowledge of, the purchasing
decision -- this is especially true of enterprise wide applications,
where the purchasing decision can be made on another continent by folks
that don't know the user community at all.

Also, while task-oriented procedures and/or work/flow descriptions can
be very helpful, indeed, it is not always possible to know how someone
is going to use the product.

Which is, of course, why we all get paid the big bucks, and have those
parking spaces with our names on 'em, right?

As usual, one size rarely fits all.

John Rosberg

-----Original Message-----
From: Janice Gelb [mailto:janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 6:05 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Documenting the user interface

Kay Honaker wrote:
> Try to be as task-oriented as possible. In other words, don't just go
through each button or tab and tell what they do. Instead, describe a
work flow that takes the user through the tasks for which she will use
the software.
> On the other hand, you need to cover all the buttons and tabs and
fields and functions. Otherwise, the user will wonder why they exist
(with good reason). 
> 

Not sure I agree that "users will wonder" why things exist in
the user interface. I think most users buy a product to
accomplish some task and with very few exceptions, their
interest in the interface is solely related to how to use
it to accomplish that task. That's why I agree that you
don't need to describe every button, tab, field, etc. They
should only be described in the tasks in which they are
used to accomplish something.

-- Janice

***********************************************************
Janice Gelb          | The only connection Sun has with
janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com  | this message is the return address



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