RE: New TECHWR-L Poll Question--amen Fred

[Michele Marques <MarquesM -at- autros -dot- com>]

Sella Rush writes:

> Speaking from a *software* writer's perspective only, 
> cautions and warnings
> are often indicators of where the software is not looking out 
> for the user.
> Sometimes this is a design flaw, other times it's specially 
> planned that
> way.

I counter: 
Not necessarily. Here are a few reasons:

(1) Maybe the task is not generally bad, but is against the policies &
procedures of some sites. 

(2) Customers want to be able to accomplish the tasks easily. They either
don't want so many "are you sure" dialog boxes, or users quickly learn the
keystrokes/mouse-clicks to get through the task without paying attention to
the dialog boxes. 

(3) Your caution or warning might not be an injunction against doing
something altogether, but a reminder of what must happen before doing the
task. (e.g., "Caution: if your site requires permanent records, make sure to
archive the data before deleting it.")

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Michele Marques, Technical Communicator
AUTROS Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
marquesm -at- autros -dot- com <mailto:marquesm -at- autros -dot- com> 
 
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