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"Abandon all hope, ye who select menu and click option
here"?
--- Keith Hansen <KRH -at- weiland-wfg -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Of course, word choice can affect the user's
> perception of the product.
> For example, in a software guide, I came across a
> sentence that read
> "When you run into problems..."
>
> WHEN?! Makes it sound like a foregone conclusion: it
> WILL happen.
> ("Users, you are all doomed!") Surely it would have
> been better to say
> "If you encounter difficulties ..." (or something to
> that effect).
>
> At any rate, that one word undermined my
> confidence...
>
> Keith
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
>
techwr-l-bounces+krh=weiland-wfg -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+krh=weiland-wfg -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
> On
> Behalf Of nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il
> Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 9:51 AM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Simply
>
> I don't think the problem is that "simply" is
> marketing. I think the
> problem is that "simply"
> is bad marketing. If you want the user to feel good
> about having bought
> the product, you don't say "We're doing all the work
> for you here, and
> if you have any difficulty, it must be your fault."
> As we used to say at the technical writing
> department in Daisy Systems,
> "the user is the hero." And it's important that the
> user feel good
> about the product, because good word-of-mouth is
> something that only
> your users can provide and bad word-of-mouth is
> something you can't
> easily counteract.
>
> ------------------------------------------------
> Mark L. Levinson - nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il
> ------------------------------------------------
> Mark discourses to fellow Israeli techwriters in The
> Why of Style, at
>http://www.elephant.org.il/
> ------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
Now shipping: Help & Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help & Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com
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