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Subject:RE: Using tables for content From:"Janoff, Steven" <Steven -dot- Janoff -at- ga -dot- com> To:"techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, Sean <seanb_us -at- yahoo -dot- com> Date:Fri, 25 Oct 2013 09:24:51 -0700
Makes perfect sense. I say go for it.
You might want to experiment with different ways to accommodate the sub-steps. I can think of several. It's an interesting challenge.
>From a design standpoint, I think you can make this tabular version look superior to the standard vertical ordered-list version. But it remains to be seen whether it will have a usability advantage. You might have to test a sample, see what reactions you get.
I think it's a cool experiment.
Steve
PS - Also suggest experimenting with borders, e.g., only internal borders, or some combination. I've done this with tables in general and you can come up with some pretty pleasing effects -- which I think that one research paper that Lauren sent was saying promotes an enjoyable form of learning.
-----Original Message-----
From: On Behalf Of Sean
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 6:05 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Using tables for content
Here is the table-based approach:
One row and three columns per step.
Col 1 = step number
Col 2 = action
Col 3 = result
So,
1. | Click File, and then click Open. | The file opens.
There is no accounting for substeps in this layout. So,
1. | Open a file | A File opens.
| Click File.
| Click Open.
| Select a file.
2. | Edit the file. | Some result text here?
As you can see, my example is squirrely, but that's the table-based construction.
Sean
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