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> From: Matt Ion <soundy -at- rogers -dot- wave -dot- ca>
>
> My first thought is to teach them through example. Get copies of the
> best, most well-produced documentation you can find, and of the worst,
> most hideous, painful, confusing documentation you can (a really thin
> motherboard manual poorly translated from an Asian language will serve
> well, in my experience). Explain to them the the good manual had actual
> TECHNICAL WRITERS working on it. The bad one didn't.
That sounds like a great idea.
> An even better example of the second would something with good pictures,
> nice graphic layout, but really crappy, confusing writing. You could
> then readily point out the difference between a manual done by someone
> who knows word processing, and someone who is a real TECH WRITER.
That, however, sounds dangerous. :) They're likely just to look at the
pretty pictures and not even take the time to evaluate the writing.
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