RE: Value of giving up numbering in Word?

["Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>]

Really? You've got to be kidding me. I never said or implied that I
don't see the value of those semantics. To the contrary, I said, "I am
not saying that numbering is always unnecessary." Along with that, isn't
it obvious I rely on the fact that the semantics Dan implied are
inescapable? Because English is read from left to right, top to bottom,
you could present Dan's list stripped of all antecedents, and it would
be no less clear:

Pick up the dry cleaning.
Drop off Mr. Webster's suit at the lecture hall.
Go around the back of the lecture hall and look for the box that Mr.
Roget left there, and put it in the car.
Drop the box at Mr. White's house, and pick up the frozen turkey he's
got waiting for me.

Now before I get a message in which someone accuses me of contradicting
myself, let me clarify: I would never create a list without antecedents
(graphical or otherwise). I have been arguing that numbers aren't always
a necessary antecedent for procedural steps. By using a unique bullet
that implies action--as in the Microsoft style guide for single step
procedures--I evidence that I think procedural steps require an
antecedent that sets them apart from other types of text. Again, I don't
think that antecedent always has to be a number.

I would further argue that on a page with lots of text and a short
procedure, numbers are inferior for the majority of users--who want to
jump right to the procedure ("just tell me what to do"). Arrows stand
out on such a page (even when the text is nicely chunked, Information
Mapped, or otherwise annotated). In contrast, numbers blend in with the
text.

The primary purpose of a numbered list is to help the user to keep his
place as he scans from a user's guide to an application (or widget) and
back to the user's guide. It is absurd to suggest that a user will lose
his place in a procedure that is three or four steps long.

Leonard C. Porrello
SoleraTec LLC
www.soleratec.com
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Combs, Richard [mailto:richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 1:41 PM
To: Leonard C. Porrello; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Value of giving up numbering in Word?

Leonard C. Porrello wrote:
 
> Look, Dan, I don't need your patronizing explication of the 
> semantics of lists.

How is it patronizing to elaborate on the semantics of lists to someone
who's said he doesn't see the value of those semantics?

Richard


------
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------




 
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