RE: 'Old fashioned' Tech Writers

["walden miller" <wmiller -at- vidiom -dot- com>]

> According to UI principles...if an application is developed according
to UI methodology, if 99.0% of the users don't use it, it isn't in
the application in the first place. That falls into something called
an edge case and you don't develop for edge cases.

There are clearly areas of UI software development in which edge cases are
the distinguishing factor (competitive edge?).  There are other areas in
which UI access to feature completeness is required (e.g., Professional MPEG
encoding tools). These are niche markets. Niche market software is often
distinguished by feature sets.  This doesn't mean the UI should be hard to
use; but it often is.  Of course, this may be the result of cash and talent
:).

Mass market software is typically not edge case driven.  It shouldn't be.

As a strange example of a tool that has a Mass market and Niche market:
Photoshop.  I imagine many of the features in Photoshop fall into the 99% do
not use category.  However, as a niche market tool, these features are
required by the artists that can really make Photoshop hum.

Just some thoughts,
w


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