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Wow. Thanks for sending this on, Mike. Will be interesting to scan, at
least.
This seems to have been written by enthusiasts/developers rather than
tech writers.
Looks like there's going to be a need for tech writers for a
LOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG time, judging by this. :)
Man, I don't know about you, but I would just *dread* confronting a
manual like this. I sort of get the feeling that the product is
exciting but you kind of can't tell it from this doc.
Where's the minimalist version? :)
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+steve -dot- janoff2=teradata -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+steve -dot- janoff2=teradata -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Mike McCallister
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:55 PM
To: voxwoman; Robert Lauriston
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Narrative Technical Writing
Funny you should mention Google Wave. This just came out over the
weekend:
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+mike -dot- mccallister=pkware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mike -dot- mccallister=pkware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of voxwoman
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:47 PM
To: Robert Lauriston
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Narrative Technical Writing
Not too many. What I see happening is that someone figures it out and
then posts instructions to their FB friends. These instructions get
reposted in a viral fashion.
Google Wave is using instructional videos, which I'd rather be reading
instead of watching/listening. But I suppose for an increasingly
illiterate society, videos are a better way to go. ("Illiterate" in the
sense that people actively avoid having to read a lot of text - which is
what I see in the current crop of teenagers that I'm exposed to). They
could benefit from a glossary, as they are using "wave" and "blip" (and
other terms) in new and not contextually comprehensible ways.
-Wendy
On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 1:39 PM, Robert Lauriston
<robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>wrote:
> How many users can figure out how to configure Facebook "Friend Lists"
> and privacy settings so as to share different information with
> friends, family, and professional contacts without consulting some
> extra-Facebook documentation? How many can figure it out even then?
>
> I just documented a purchasing application based on a subset of Oracle
> Financials. I did write a one-page cheat sheet for end users, but it
> took more like 25 pages to cover all the tasks four groups of users
> with different privileges regularly have to perform.
>
> On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 10:14 AM, Janoff, Steve
> <Steve -dot- Janoff2 -at- teradata -dot- com> wrote:
> > ... Web applications are becoming so easy to use, the eventual
"help"
> might
> > be a 1-page cheat sheet. ...
> >
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