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--- Tammy VanBoening <Tammy -dot- VanBoening -at- netRegulus -dot- com> wrote:
> Even if I did rewrite Adobe's instructions as you suggest, then we
> get into
> maintenace and usability issues.
Well, this is where the tech writer's job becomes interesting. You
need to find a balance between making your users successful and
reducing maintenance and other costs to your company. If you write
nothing about Acrobat, then you reduce costs, but your users are
lost. If you overdo it on the Acrobat doc, then you have happy users,
but at a large cost to you and your company. Your challenge is to
find the middle ground.
And yes, every 6-12 months, they may come out with an update that
will require you to change your doc. So? That's your job!
> To me, there is no
> return on our investment when we document 3rd party products.
Your return is that the customers who give you money and keep you in
buiness are happy with your product! Remember, if your product
requires Acrobat, and users can't figure out how to use Acrobat,
they'll focus their frustration at YOUR company, not at Adobe. If you
abandon them with the excuse that the Acrobat doc is not your
problem, then they may abandon you.
If you were teaching a training class on your product, wouldn't you
include a quick session on using Acrobat forms? Or if someone asked
you to recap that info, would you refuse and say "sorry, we don't
teach that in this class"? If you wouldn't abandon your users in
person, why would you consider abandoning them in print?
Perhaps you can include an Acrobat forms tutorial, and then refer
users to the Acrobat doc for more info. But in my opinion, if you do
nothing, then you're just ignoring the needs of your users.
By the way, there is a benefit in this to you. In my experience, if
users need something that the doc is not providing, someone else will
provide it. Such as your professional services group. And then all
that happens is that you look bad for making excuses, while someone
else looks good for making it happen.
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