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FW: Writers of user manuals: going the way of the dodo?
Subject:FW: Writers of user manuals: going the way of the dodo? From:"Delaney, Misti" <ncr02!ncr02!mdelaney -at- UCS01 -dot- ATTMAIL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 28 Jul 1995 17:52:00 -0500
From: Price, Becca
Subject: RE: Writers of user manuals: going the way of the dodo?
Date: Friday, July 28, 1995 4:49PM
where we should have been in the beginning, if we were lucky - acting as
user advocates, helping *design* the system so it meets the user's needs,
and does what s/he wants it to with the minimum amount of work ("machines
should work - people should think"). Designers - i.e. programmers - don't
always have the skills needed to design the interface so it is intuitive.
What makes elegant sense from a programming viewpoint may be a clunky
kludge from the user's view. (would any good tech. writer have designed a
VCR that can't be programmed? or keys on a remote control that are too small
to be used except with a very small pencil eraser?)
-b
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Subject: Writers of user manuals: going the way of the dodo?
Date: Thursday, July 27, 1995 4:09PM
<snip>
Where does the writer of computer instruction fit into this future of
receding words?