Re: Use of Optional in instructions

Subject: Re: Use of Optional in instructions
From: Fox Cole <foxcole -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:40:58 -0500

On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 8:26 AM, Fox Cole <foxcole -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> So, with the simple misplacement of a tag, you've tasked the reader with
> reading the whole instruction (which you can only hope they do) and
> encountering at the end a word that requires them to reread in order to make
> a decision about where and how to make a decision to act. That's a big load
> for one instruction, isn't it?
>

If you're not one of the people who put much stock in the cognitive-load
philosophy, here's another way to look at it.

Suppose you were creating a flowchart of the procedure. Tell me what comes
first in the diagram. Now tell me why.

The same principle applies in verbal instructions.

Cheers!
---Fox

If the world were a logical place, men would ride side saddle. -- Rita Mae
Brown
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat


References:
Re: Use of Optional in instructions: From: Fox Cole

Previous by Author: Re: Misc: "The time has come," the Walrus said...
Next by Author: Re: Use of Optional in instructions
Previous by Thread: Re: Use of Optional in instructions
Next by Thread: Can someone show me an adequate description of Mls spec?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads