RE: Overuse of "It"

[John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> I find some of these very annoying and even condescending. If it is
> "clear," I'll let you know; if it is of "interest", I'll let you
> know that too. The same goes for "important".

I don't agree. We make the decision all the time to point out
important issues in our documentation. They are usualy based on
extensive experience that users fail to see or act appropriately (and
yes, the application could be redesigned, but sometimes a single note
accomplishes the same thing and it's cheaper and faster).

You mean it is condescending to read?: 

"Is it important to note that even though the state of the Finish
button does not change visibly, you cannot finsh input untill all the
fields are filled in." (BTW...please forgive any minor wording
issues...I'm on my 12th hour at the office today.)

Interest, the same thing. "As the system administrator, you may find
it of interest that with the 2.0 release, we've redesigned the GUI
frontend of our application based on input from you and other
managers." (OK, maybe a little marketingish, but I stand by the
intent.)

Personaly, I have enough on my plate dealing with condecending
responses that start with my name to worry that some language in a
25,000 copy distribution is speaking directly at me....

...unless I hear it from my dog, but that's another issue and the
medication doesn't have too many side affects.

John Posada
Senior Technical Writer

"They say everyone needs goals. Mine is to live forever.
So far, so good."
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