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Subject:Re: One step procedures From:"Wittel, Teresa J." <WITTTJ -at- NCSLINK -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 4 Aug 1997 15:45:00 -0700
I agree with Dan Wise and others who assert that single step procedures
can usually be combined or avoided. Writing military tech manuals
taught that a "1" implies that a "2" exists. Same goes for bullets.
Naturally, I can see that assembling an engine is a mite different than
writing software instructions. However, since I have moved to writing
software user guides, I have avoided one step procedures by rewriting
the procedure or moving the step back to the margin. See the following
examples (the clever original version was borrowed from Marie C.
Paretti).
ORIGINAL:
Eating All the Oysters
[insert brief explanation here]
You can order all the oysters from either the Walrus Window or the
Carpenter Window:
From the Walrus Window:
1. Select the Dinner Menu
2. Select Oysters. The food system will open a cascade
menu listing all
the individual oysters currently available, along with the option All
Oysters.
3. From the cascade menu select All Oysters. The system
will deliver the
oysters to your beach blanket.
From the Carpenter Window:
1. Select the Eat All Oysters pushbutton. The system
will deliver the
oysters to your cubicle.
REWRITE 1: (blocked text, of course)
Eating All the Oysters
You can order all the oysters from either the Walrus Window or the
Carpenter Window:
From the Walrus Window, select the Dinner Menu.
a. Select Oysters. The food system will open a cascade menu
listing . . .
b. From the cascade menu select All Oysters. The system will
deliver the oysters . . .
OR
From the Carpenter Window, select the Eat All Oysters pushbutton.
The system will . . .
REWRITE 2: (blocked text, of course)
Eating All the Oysters
You can order all the oysters from either the Walrus Window or the
Carpenter Window:
From the Walrus Window:
a. Select the Dinner Menu.
b. Select Oysters. The food system will open a cascade menu
listing . . .
c. From the cascade menu select All Oysters. The system
will deliver the oysters . . .
OR
From the Carpenter Window:
Select the Eat All Oysters pushbutton. The system will deliver
the oysters to your cubicle.
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