RE: Why didn't they ask US for help???

Subject: RE: Why didn't they ask US for help???
From: "Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>
To: <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:55:35 -0500

Yes, I think that's probably it. They're so familiar with the procedure
that they don't realize they've left out something important.

Another variation on this is the person who gives you directions to
their house (or wherever) and leaves out some really important point
that completely messes you up.

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Hood [mailto:klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 12:41 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com; Downing, David
Subject: Re: Why didn't they ask US for help???

It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with politics or egos. Most
people simply don't realize just how bad they are as writers.

Also, they are too familiar with the material. The guys who did up that
procedure are not accustomed to thinking about how to walk people
through things. They are so familiar with the procedure, they just don't
see branch points because to them it's become so automatic they can't
not pick the right course through the procedure. It doesn't occur to
them that other people can't automatically recognize the correct path.


--- On Mon, 8/25/08, Downing, David <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com> wrote:

> From: Downing, David <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>
> Subject: Why didn't they ask US for help???
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Date: Monday, August 25, 2008, 11:20 AM
> Our email is in the process of being "migrated"
> from one email system to
> another, and we've been given instructions for what to
> do to get
> ourselves set up properly on the new system. But a number
> of people --
> myself included -- need to call upon someone to walk us
> through the
> procedure, because he instructions weren't written very
> well.
> Specifically, they didn't give us enough information.
> We were told to
> run a particular program and follow the instructions on the
> screen, but
> not what to ever at various prompts.
>
> Now the thing is, we have a documentation department here
> who knows how
> to write instructions. That's the department I work in.
> Since the system
> administrators knew we were here, why didn't they ask
> us for help
> writing the instructions. My manager says he wouldn't
> have wanted to get
> involved with that, and maybe I wouldn't have either,
> but I would have
> wanted to be wanted. It would have been nice if they'd
> at least thought
> of asking us, and I'm wondering why they didn't.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to
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> technical
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>
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> http://www.helpandmanual.com
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
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References:
Why didn't they ask US for help???: From: Downing, David
Re: Why didn't they ask US for help???: From: Keith Hood

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