TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Placement of tables/figures From:"Leslie Johnson (Meridian Partners Ltd.)" <a-leslij -at- microsoft -dot- com> To:"'techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 28 Mar 2000 15:34:39 -0800
Hi Carrie,
I've faced this issue any number of times on any number of projects, and as
far as I can tell, there's no "right" answer (although that won't stop the
writers from arguing about it). Were I you, I'd do a quickie usability study
with my users to see what they want. After all, they're the ones who're
reading the darn thing, no? Having said that, you'll likely get a fairly
evenly divided recommendation from the users: 1 group will want the info in
the procedure and the other group will want the info somewhere else. They'll
likely be divided along the lines of novice users vs. experienced or power
users.
In an online situation, it's pretty easy to solve this with a More Info
button, but in print you may have to just decide to make a decision and live
with it.
Hope this helps!
Leslie Johnson
saltmine LLC
-----Original Message-----
From: Carrie Miller [mailto:CMiller -at- mrisystem -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 11:51 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Placement of tables/figures
I work for a software company that provides a lot of figures and
field/description tables in documentation in order to help users complete
fields on views. Lately, the documentation department has debating where to
place figures and tables. Some feel that when placed within a procedure,
tables and graphics are too intrusive. Others feel they should be placed
within the procedures, next to the step they pertain to. Also, many clients
have complained that they cannot find information about certain fields when
they are buried in a setup procedure, for example.
If anyone is facing similar issues or has any recommendations, please
share.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sponsored by Weisner Associates Inc., Online Information Services
Training & consulting for RoboHELP, Dreamweaver, HTML, and HTML-Based Help.
More info at http://www.weisner.com/train/ or mailto:training -at- weisner -dot- com -dot-
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: a-leslij -at- microsoft -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-29946N -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
