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Re: Comments about including an entire screen vs a piece (or an icon)
We have found in our work with beginners that showing only a specific
pull-down menu or icon is not particularly helpful to them because the picture
lacks context. They don't know where on the screen to look for the item
shown. I agree, however, that you don't have to show the entire screen. In
fact, a close-up crop of the portion of the screen involved in the discussion
can be more useful as long as enough of the surrounding screen is included to
show context.
We've also found that we must include phrasing such as "Press the Backspace
key on your keyboard" because beginners tend to look on the screen for the
"Backspace key."
I guess the point of my comments is that knowledge of your audience is
crucial as has been pointed out on this list many times.
These are valuable discussions and I enjoy hearing what others have found
effective.
Joely Beatty
Please send personal replies to EmpressGJB so they don't get lost in my
mailing list mail.
