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Lyn Worthen's message about a fun project where she had the chance to use sarcasm in a tech writing project reminded me of a pleasant documentation experience I had over the holidays. The documentation for the cell phone I got as a gift was great. The user manual (apparently done by the manufacturer) contained straightforward, clear instructions and helpful graphics but even better was the Virgin Mobile Getting Started guide for establishing your account, activating the phone and such. It was well-written and funny but low-key. TV ads and the phone packaging make it pretty clear Virgin Mobile targets the MTV crowd. Their guide and Web site are funny and well-written. As a cell phone newbie, I relied solely on the Getting Started guide to uh, get started, and I was tickled to do so.
Martha
"Algebra was easy for the Romans because "X" was always 10." - Unknown
Lyn Worthen wrote:
A few years ago (1997), I had the opportunity to write a user guide for an
e-commerce product. The target audience was defined as "the internet
illiterate" and the tone the client wanted for the material was a very
lighthearted, techie-yuppie voice, bordering on sarcasm. I got to use
phrases such as: "If the product you're trying to sell is something only
your mother would buy, [our software] isn't going to be of much use to you.
On the other hand, if everyone on the face of the planet (or at least a
reasonable percentage of them) is going to want it, [our software] can help
you get it to them." The docs ended up being a very successful part of
their marketing strategy.
It was a fun project.
It was also quite challenging, because you had to balance the tone with
enough professionalism to give credibility to the instruction set and not
insult the users.
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