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Subject:RE: table of figures From:Brent -dot- Jones -at- Level3 -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 5 Jan 2001 11:18:35 -0700
Mike Stockman wrote on Friday, January 05, 2001 9:47 AM:
> I can imagine situations where a list of figures would be
> useful, but, in
> my mind anyway, those situations are rare... are people
> really using them
> very often, and to what end? Has anyone ever usability tested
> such manuals
> to see whether the users even notice, much less use, the list
> of figures?
I also never consult a list of figures when using docs that have one, and my
sense (without any formal usability testing) is that most people don't.
However, I generally include one in larger documents for the following
reasons:
1. A few of my readers might find it useful.
2. It takes up a trivial amount of space--one or two pages.
3. With Frame, and even Word, it requires very little effort to set up and
generate.
So I generally figure 'what the heck' and throw one in. I also think it
might add to that subtle, ineffable sense of completeness and benign
'authority' that an effective document should have in order to be effective.
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