TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Aye, there's the rub (was RE: Yahoo has no staff tech writers)
Subject:Aye, there's the rub (was RE: Yahoo has no staff tech writers) From:"Dick Margulis " <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 9 Oct 2002 10:56:32 -0400
bryan -dot- westbrook -at- amd -dot- com wrote:
>>
>>So, it is possible to delete an account? I've given up in frustration and deserted a couple over the years, but I've never been able to delete one. I even tried their tech support form for help and never received any.
Jeff Hanvey <jeff -at- jewahe -dot- net> replied:
>
>Well, I found it right off (Like that was unexpected?)
>
[snip]
>
>You'll now reach the account termination screen.
>
>Simply, huh?
>
This is a GREAT EXAMPLE of the value tech writers and tech editors can add to a room full of engineers. I've seen this same transaction played out in a variety of contexts --doc management, indexing, technical specs, ....
Here's what happens. One person forms a mental model--a mind map if you will--of a situation. In this case, one person decided that any right-thinking person would realize that to delete your account, you should first manage your account, then go to Help, then want to configure your account.
And sure enough, Jeff is a right-thinking person, because he figured that out one-two-three, zippedy doo-dah.
The problem is that not everyone models the world in exactly the same way. And Bryan, being part of the not everyone, looks at the same interface and gets lost, because there is no top-level link to delete his account.
The value that the writer and editor bring to this situation is that they spend at least a little time thinking about all the oddball ways different people can interpret a set of symbols. They represent the diverse ways people interact with an interface and, if they are good at what they do, modify the interface to accommodate as many different modes of interaction as possible and eliminate as much confusion and ambiguity as possible.
Just because SOME people can figure out what you meant, doesn't mean ALL people can figure out what you meant. But by applying the skills we have as writers and editors, we can improve the odds.
Dick
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All-new RoboHelp X3 is now shipping! Get single sourcing, print-quality
documentation, conditional text and much more, in the most monumental
release ever. Save $100! Order online at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Buy ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 6.0, the most powerful SINGLE SOURCE HELP
AUTHORING TOOL for MS Word. SAVE $100 on the full version and $50 on the
upgrade. Offer ends 10/31/2002 (code: DTH102250). http://www.componentone.com/d2hlist1002
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
