Re: Sloppy writing, sloppy thinking

Subject: Re: Sloppy writing, sloppy thinking
From: Jan Henning <henning -at- r-l -dot- de>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 09:43:43 +0200


Yes, I pretty much agree, except that
online help and "tool-tips" is often a
better vehicle for "explaining" the interface.

Sure, the reference section doesn't have to be on paper (or in PDF).

Maybe it's me, but I never have much
curiosity about what an interface object
"does" except as part of a workflow that
gets a task accomplished.

I guess that depends on what type of software you document. Business software is frequently built around specific workflows, and you cannot say much more about most elements than "press this button after you have flabbled the woomp". You may not really need a reference section for that.

But consider Photoshop, with it's myriad tools, that is used for a huge variety of tasks. It seems impossible to describe more than very few sample workflows in the manual, and a reference section is almost certainly needed.

Once again, we seem to find that one solution doesn't fit all cases. :-)

Regards
Jan Henning

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Jan Henning
ROSEMANN & LAURIDSEN GMBH
Am Schlossberg 14, D-82547 Eurasburg, Germany

Phone: +49 700 0200 0700, Fax: +49 8179 9307-12
E-Mail: henning -at- r-l -dot- de, Web: www.r-l.de
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References:
Re: Sloppy writing, sloppy thinking: From: Michael West

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