Re: Concept - Task ratio

[kafkascampi <kafkascampi -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Mike said: "I wouldn't put it in terms of a ratio... if it needs explaining,
it needs explaining."

Our ratio is probably around 5 tasks : 1 concept, but I agree with Mike that
concepts should be need-driven as opposed to required. I've always found
that if you need a paragraph to explain something within a task, that's
where you need a concept.

Chris Vickery


On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 9:28 AM, Mike Starr <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com> wrote:

> I wouldn't put it in terms of a ratio... if it needs explaining, it needs
> explaining. Many companies are adopting the Tivo model that Laura reported
> and I feel that's a big disservice to users. If we help them understand the
> the why, they'll have an easier time dealing with the how.
>
> --
> Mike Starr                            WriteStarr Information Services
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>
> On 2/2/2011 9:47 AM, John Posada wrote:
> > Hi, guys...As I've said, I've been doing an analysis of our customer
> > support knowledgebase to look for areas of improvement.
> >
> > I've introduced the concept modeled after the DITA methodology of
> > Concept/Task/Reference and it has caught on strong.
> >
> > My question...for online help or web based help for consumer-type
> > services, specifically phone service, if you have thought about it, do
> > you find that you found a ratio of concept to task that worked out
> > best for you?
> >
> > For instance, I'm proposing the premise that since this is for a
> > support site, we should be doing less explaining issues compared to
> > more presenting procedures on how to do and fix things; the logic
> > being that the average telephone customer doesn't care as much about
> > how something works as they do with getting it to work so they can
> > make their call and get on with their life.
> >
> > Keep in mind, I'm not writing for the techy geek, but for the average
> > Joe Q Public with a telephone.
> >
> > Has anyone else thought about this and if so, know of any best
> > practices that supports this premise?
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