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Subject:Eliminate tech. support? From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Fri, 20 Jun 1997 15:28:54 -0500
Matthew Long wondered if good documentation could eliminate
or at least greatly reduce technical support costs. In a
perfect world, yes; in reality, we're not even close. The
problems are twofold:
First, a large proportion of the users of software etc.
have literacy problems. Combined with an inherent fear of
computers (specifically) and technology (in general), this
poses a darn near insurmountable problem for writers. The
literacy problem is only going to get worse based on what
I've seen of the educational system and on the trend away
from reading; the fear problem will get much better as the
current generation of youngsters moves into the job market.
I suspect that we'll still be doing documentation, but that
more of it will be interactive online help (wizards etc.)
or video-type instructions.
Second, you can't solve usability problems (hardware or
software) through documentation. If the product is unusable
or difficult to use, the finest documentation in the world
won't make it any easier to use. I suspect that in addition
to doing docs, we'll also be more heavily involved in
interface design and usability testing.
I have no doubt that improved docs will reduce support
costs (there have been various studies that demonstrate
this convincingly), but as long as people are people, tech.
support jobs are likely a growth industry.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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