Re: Chattiness in manuals

["Julia Countryman" <julia -dot- countryman -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I'd also be tempted to throw it across the room!

I once worked with someone who started her manuals with "This document is
meant to be the be all and end all of knowledge on how to use this widget".
She continued on in the body of the manual to insert jokes, personal
comments about the widget operators, and put in silly pictures of the
operators in various gang poses, wearing their cleanroom gear.  Needless to
say, not only did she get relieved of her duties, she was insane, and I had
the good fortune of taking over her assignment in addition to my own.

Julia
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robotti, Anne (Carlin)" <ARobotti -at- CarlinGroup -dot- com>
To: "Sarah Bouchier" <Sarah -dot- Bouchier -at- exony -dot- com>; "TECHWR-L"
<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 6:17 AM
Subject: RE: Chattiness in manuals


>
> > How would you react to a manual that said, "The installation
> > of this component may take several minutes.  This would be a
> > good time to go and get a cup of tea"?
>
> I personally would throw it across the room and just figure the problem
> out for myself. Maybe it's just my day to be rumbly, but I absolutely
> despise the trend toward warm fuzzies in technical manuals. If I want to
> be amused I'll go watch Seinfeld reruns.
>
> I saw something the other day that said, "Use the mouse (not the furry
> kind.)" It just made me want to hit something really hard.
>
> Anne
>
>
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