Re: giving a toss about documentation

[shankAtIndiaDotcom <ss_rajanala -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> >Consumers will whine and complain no end about
> poor VCR documentation, but when presented with
> two VCRs of identical function, do they give a
> toss about the documentation? No. They buy the
> one that's 10$ cheaper.

Now, what if the other player came with no
documentation at all? And it is $100 less? Who
will buy that? No one. That being the case
(documentation being absolutely required),
providing adequate quality documentation is as
much a part of the requirement as it is required
that the product works.

Note that bad documentation is not easy to check,
just as an intricate feature of the product not
visible to the naked eye or ear at the time or
point of purchase.

 There are products, such as an old spring-watch
that do come with a booklet (or even a cell
phone) where people will never need the docs. I
haven't consulted the booklets that came with my
phone in a year.

> considering that the documentation is part of
> the product's usability, if i buy a vcr from

I would go further and say, usability is at the
core of the product, and documentation is a
component of a product's usability (at least
until such time as product interfaces are
designed so intuitively as to allow users to find
database staging tables blindfolded).

While talking of the issue of document

> and just because i don't say, "i'm not
> buying that one because the instructions suck"
> doesn't mean that the instructions didn't play
> any part in my low opinion of the brand.

Yeah, you may not return it (in a place like
india, you cannot; not on account of bad guides
anyway), but you go: There is that Zombilectric
player; last time i wanted to record a movie, I
had to call my sister in the univ late in the
night. The instructions are so confusing.

I don't know why we wish to couch the usefulness
of documentation, which is a part of the
product's usability in terms of experience and
exasperation. The instructions don't work; the
product, as far as the user goes, don't work!

> about the total experience of the product, of
> which usability, of which documentation, is
> key.

Then again, it is important to distinguish
between products where instructions are provided
just to fulfill a formal req. and those wherein
instructions are critical using the product. In
the first case they are a necessary evil. When
people bring into question the use of docs, they
are likely talking of such. Those who worked with
products and took advantage of docs never say so.


For those who believe in (the usefulness of docs)
no explanation is necessary; for those who don't
believe, no amount of academic research is
adequate.

shankar



		
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