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Some people follow text instructions better. Lots of people prefer screen shots.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Ryan Pollack
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2013 10:31 AM
To: Erika Yanovich
Cc: Techwr-l
Subject: Re: Screen captures
As others have said, "it depends". Screenshots are like anything else (tables, bulleted lists, videos, paragraphs, etc); they are a tool you can use in order to bring about understanding in your readers. Here are some reasons why I find screenshots very useful:
- Instead of "Select blah>>blah>>blah", a screenshot helps users follow
a path visually instead of mentally translating steps into actions. This
saves effort and time on their part.
- The above goes doubly true if you have a dialog box with, say, 15
options and the user has to act on one or two. Without a screenshot, the
user has to spend a few seconds scanning the dialog box and trying to find
the option you wrote down, following the menu tree you set out as they go.
With a screenshot, you can highlight the necessary option, saving them this
effort.
- People don't read; they skim. People's eyes go straight to
screenshots, which can save a lot of reading time, thus getting the user
back into the software quicker and helping them feel better about the docs.
- If a user is switching back & forth between the help and the software,
a screenshot helps users keep their place in the column of text, so they
can quickly return to the docs where they left off. It's much harder to
find your place in a wall of text.
- Screenshots generally add color to a document, making it more pleasing
to the eye (if your UX person has done their job ;-)
- Screenshots make the doc look less intimidating by breaking up, or
obviating, large chunks of text. The less intimidating a doc looks, the
more likely someone will be to read it, and the better they will feel about
it overall.
Of course screenshots have drawbacks:
- They generally take multiple steps to generate (open your software
program, get it into a proper state for taking a relevant screenshot, take
screenshot, possibly annotate it, save it, insert into document, etc.
- They are larger in size than text, which can affect storage space on
disk, download times if you are doing online help, or file sizes if you are
delivering a PDF.
- They are larger in dimension than a block of text, increasing
scrolling in online help and page count if you are delivering a printed
manual.
- They are not searchable, although if you are doing online help or
adding captions, you can associate text w/screenshots in order to work
around this. Keep in mind that not only can users not search, *you* can't
-- which makes it harder to determine what portions of your documentation
need to change when a new feature comes around.
- They are binary, so if you use a source code control system, changes
to them cannot be merged or tracked.
- They can be a pain for localization departments, who have to recreate
your setup in order to translate the screenshot.
As with anything else, these are all just my opinions. In many situations, I think the benefits of screenshots outweigh the drawbacks. I have topics in my help system that are literally just a title and a screenshot :-)
On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 12:08 AM, Erika Yanovich <ERIKA_y -at- rad -dot- com> wrote:
> Users like to be reassured they got to the right screen after passing
> through several other ones. I don't give screen captures of the
> passing-through ones where the user just clicks something to get to
> another screen, just of the final screen, where the actual work is done.
> Erika
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/WNaCzd
>
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--
Ryan Pollack
Senior Technical Writer | Click Security ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel is giving a free webinar on best practices for creating mobile help.
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
STC Vice President Nicky Bleiel is giving a free webinar on best practices
for creating mobile help.
