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I'm with Arlen on this one. I don't know about everyone else in most of
the places I've worked they wanted the documentation yesterday. It
would be nice to look at all the ins and outs of using different fonts
but I just don't have the time. I've been in the business long enough
now to know what works and what doesn't. I can get a basic document
(layout, fonts, white space, basic navigation etc) knocked together in
no time at all. I can then concentrate on the most important part -
getting the content right. As it goes through review my initial
structure may well get tweaked. If I have the luxury of talking to
actual users there may be even a few major tweaks but the fonts are
rarely an issue. From experience I know what works well together for
headings/body; I know what works well for paper and on-line; I (usually)
know my audience so what I select (size of font etc) reflects the user
and the conditions the document will be used in. If I see a manual I
particularly like I'll check out the fonts used and probably store the
layout for future reference.
I know that I've a lot to learn on the typography front and learning
more may well help improve my documents but I'm not sure that the user
will notice. It's a bit like hi-fi. I have friends who are hi-fi junkies
and have the latest top of the range equipment. Me, I've a medium system
that I've had for over 15 years now. I'm told that the sound quality is
so much better from their system and I'm sure that it is but (past a
certain point) I can't tell the difference. My older (and cheaper)
system in no way detracts from my listening pleasure. Same with fonts -
as long as you use 'good practice' and experience when selecting your
fonts/layout/etc the user experience will be no worse than if you'd
spent days agonising over it. A few may notice but it's the old 80:20
principle and my time is better spent ensuring that what they get is
right!
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