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Re: Writers of user manuals: going the way of the dodo?
Subject:Re: Writers of user manuals: going the way of the dodo? From:Karen Mayer <Karen_Mayer -dot- TOUCH_TECHNOLOGY -at- NOTES -dot- COMPUSERVE -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 31 Jul 1995 09:56:17 EDT
I don't really see user documentation going by the wayside so much. Maybe
I just haven't seen these "intuitive" applications! What I see is an
adherence to a standard, which has unfortunately become the Windows UI.
Even DOS programs that have their own GUI will follow Windows
conventions, and as users become more familiar with this interface, they
will require less instruction on using the interface, but just as much on
how to get their work done with This Product from XYZ company.
The problem with the idea of letting documentation fall away is that to
do so requires that you make assumptions about how the user thinks. If
XYZ company thinks their software is so "intuitive" it doesn't need
documentation, they must have made some assumptions about what icons mean
what to every user, and even worse, they must believe that the language
they use in the UI is never going to be misconstrued. Human experience
being so varied across the US, let alone across the world, makes it a
nice dream, but an impractical one.
