Re: Capitalizing...research need

[Chuck Martin <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com>]

I agree with the "match what's on the screen" thought--users can more 
easily make the connection between what they see on the screen and what 
they see in the docs--but I dont' agree with bolding the name just 
because it appears.

Unless I'm using a style guide that directs otherwise, I bold only the 
terms that users actually act upon. For example, if they have to click 
on the tab to get to a specific page, then I'd bold the name. But if I 
am just referenceing it, for example, "The Xyz tab contains...," then I 
do not bold the name.

The bolding catches users' eyes (like links on a web page), and too much 
bolding distracts them from important points. More often than not, the 
most important points are going to be your procedural text; users are 
reading the docs because thay can't figure out from the interface how to 
get a particular task done. If the interaction points are the only ones 
bolded, users can just scan the bolded text and get a very good idea of 
what to do without even reading comprehensively.


Gene Kim-Eng wrote: