RE: Online help and the elimination of the printed doc

["Giordano, Connie" <Connie -dot- Giordano -at- FMR -dot- COM>]

Dan,

It's quite possible to do what you're proposing, but it takes a while, and
probably should be done in stages.  The main caveat I would suggest is that
you prepare internal staff and your user base that this is going to happen.

When I came to this company, our desktop applications had no on-line help,
and reams of paper doc that were not particularly helpful.  We were doing an
overhaul of one of the applications, from windows to web, so we introduced a
thoroughly indexed on-line help system containing conceptual, procedural and
reference topics. I made extensive use of graphics and screenshots, but
incorporated screens as popups and dynamic dropdowns, which allowed novices
to orient themselves, without wasting screen space for more advanced users.

We also produced a "transition guide" to help the novice get used to working
with new terminology, symbols/icons, and new locations for functionality in
the web version, and a user guide, simply because they'd always had one.
Trainers made sure users knew there was a on-line help system, and I stopped
producing a print user guide for that application two years ago. Print
documentation consists of release notes, installation instructions and
system administration instructions.  Went from 600 pages in a user guide to
an average of 12 for release notes, and about 20 for installation and
administration.

Contact me off-line if you want more background on the project.

Regards

Connie

-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel_Hall -at- trendmicro -dot- com [mailto:Daniel_Hall -at- trendmicro -dot- com] 
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 12:58 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Online help and the elimination of the printed doc



Limited resources - it's sort of an either/or question.

Since the product is being completely revamped (even the 
underlying architecture will be completely different), 
none of the documentation will be "updated" - it will need 
to all be rewritten, mostly from scratch. Knowing that, I can:

   1. Invest most of my time in the printed manual (general 
      practice here), with help that's mostly just re-purposed 
      manual content.
   2. Invest most of my time in the help system (with all that 
      detailed, control-level, stuff) and trim down the manual. 3. I could
have both of about "average quality." 

There just isn't time for both, so I thought it might be worth 
investigating if there was anyone who'd done something 
similar... and received feedback, or had experience to share.

Another factor I forgot to mention: This is mostly a "set it 
and forget it"-type product, where the user periodically 
checks on status, but interacts with it (changing settings 
through the interface) infrequently. Another reason I was thinking of
focusing more intently on the help.

Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-129804 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-129804 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of Goldstein, Dan
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 9:40 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Online help and the elimination of the printed doc



I think I understand your reasons for increasing the online help. But what
are your reasons for reducing the printed documentation?

Dan Goldstein

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel_Hall -at- trendmicro -dot- com
> Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 12:28 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Online help and the elimination of the printed doc
> 
> Proposal:
> I am proposing a significant reduction in the printed
> documentation, coupled to incorporating a significant 
> increase in the volume and detail of the online help...
>