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Subject:Re: Figures in User Manuals From:Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- marvin -dot- eng -dot- sun -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 19 Mar 2001 11:03:28 -0800 (PST)
In article ORG -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com, claire -dot- philpott -at- alphanova -dot- co -dot- uk (Claire Philpott) writes:
>
>I am writing a User Manual/Reference Guide. The proposed audience for this
>guide is mainly business users covering a variety of job functions ranging
>in seniority from Customer Service Representatives to Middle Managers. There
>are potentially a few 'technical' personnel who will use the manual.
>
>I have been 'asked' to include figures under every screen capture and to
>create an index of these figures.
>
>In principle I am against adding figures to a User Manual/Reference Guide. I
>feel that Users locate relevant information through a list of task based
>entries in an index than through a list of screen shoots.
>
>Am I right in feeling this is more relevant for a technical publication
>targeted at a technical audience? Is there a compelling reason why I should
>or should not include the figures?
>
I wouldn't make a hard-and-fast rule based on the audience. For
some figures, especially conceptual or task-based ones (e.g.,
showing a network layout or how to connect a plug), a caption
and an entry in a list of figures might be useful for the reader
who is looking for that specific illustration. OTOH, if I'm
documenting a GUI and an entire section is dealing with tasks
related to a specific dialog box or menu, I don't think that
including a caption saying "XXX Dialog Box" is going to get
the user there any faster than the task in the index or title
in the Table of Contents would, and the caption is redundant
in context.
IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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