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Subject:Re: What *is* user friendly From:Kat Nagel/MasterWork <katnagel -at- EZNET -dot- NET> Date:Fri, 26 Jan 1996 16:27:17 -0400
WandaJane wrote:
>>The idea buddy holds is that these little goofies make the guide >*less
>>intimidating*.
Actually, I know several users of industrial equipment---the manuals for
which are MUCH more prone to use cartoons than software manuals, especially
in safety or basic operations guides---who insist that the cartoons are
even MORE intimidating than old-style dense text: "Cartoons mean that the
material is so difficult that even the WRITER knows you won't understand!"
>>If that analysis results in
>>cutsie icons littering my pages, I suppose I'll have to submit.
No, no, NO! Never give in unless your whole job depends on it. Fight the
cartoon-advocates in the trenches, in the streets, in committee meetings.
We can't let them win. Cartoons belong in the newspaper and on office
doors, not in technical documents.
You don't need little goofies to make a manual less intimidating to your
audience. You just need to STOP INTIMIDATING YOUR AUDIENCE. There! I
feel better, now.
@Kat_____ Kat Nagel
MasterWork Consulting Services Rochester, NY
LIFE1 (techwriting/docdesign) katnagel -at- eznet -dot- net
LIFE2 (vocal chamber music) PlaynSong -at- aol -dot- com
