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RE: The roles of GUIs and supporting documentation? (Long)
Subject:RE: The roles of GUIs and supporting documentation? (Long) From:"Michael West" <mwest -at- oz -dot- quest -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 25 Aug 2000 11:15:32 +1000
Melissa Fisher wrote:
> If you want to expand your knowledge and skills into other areas, be my
> guest. But if you think that making the user interface better makes you a
> better tech writer, I think you are fooling yourself.
I really think this runs directly against both conventional
wisdom and common sense.
The person responsible for user assistance material * must * be
an advocate for usability. My employer pays me not just to
"write documents" (any fool can do that), but to help make our
products easy to use, and our users productive.
Yes, my primary deliverable is user-assistance material, but
there are many other ways in which I can -- and do -- help
users be productive. Suggesting improvements to the user
interface is just one of them.
Michael West
Manager, Technical Publications
Melbourne, Australia
