Re: Humor as a communication technique

[Rowena Hart <rhart -at- INTRINSYC -dot- COM>]

I think Scott Miller is right -- if humour appears any-
where in a manual or technical document, it should
appear in example sections or sidebar boxes designed
specifically to provide tips or helpful information.  It
is important to visually identify or "cue" the reader that
what they are reading is humour.  Cartoons, fonts,
boxes, etc. all do the trick.  Mixing humour in with
standard text is annoying, rather than helpful, and may
lead to confusion rather than comprehension.

<snip>
I think a more appropriate place for humor is in tutorials, if they
still exist anywhere. I relied totally on VW Repair for the Compleat
Idiot, which was pretty darn funny and very empathetic. It even told you
when you were about to scrape your knuckles off.
<snip>

I've heard of one case in B.C. where "humour" in a
technical doc led to the writer being fired.  If you're going
to use humour as a major feature in your documentation,
you should probably run the idea by your client or employer
first before you become a humour-martyr.  Humour should be
part of a document's overall design, and should be iden-
tified -- at the beginning of a project -- as one of the instruc-
tional tools that you'll be using.

Cheers,

Rowena

---------------------
Rowena Hart
Technical Writer
Intrinsyc Software, Inc.
http://www.intrinsyc.com