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Subject:Re: When is it too much information? From:Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:yehoshua paul <ysp10182 -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:06:12 -0800 (PST)
I never thought there was a major hassle between the two of you. My point was there's no point in possibly starting any hassle of any size between the two of you over something so minor. The guy may have a point. I say shrug and put in the one short sentence he wants. I understand you don't like wasting words, but in this case it *might* not be a waste. Putting in what he wants can't hurt, might help, costs nothing but three seconds.
And, ask him how often he gets calls from customers that are caused by the lack of such a brief "no need" sentence. Maybe putting it in could save him some time; it would be worth it to find out. That information may give you a pointer toward refining your documents in the future.
________________________________
From: yehoshua paul <ysp10182 -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Cc: tech2wr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: When is it too much information?
Let me clarify. This is NOT a major disagreement between me and the support guy. He sits next to me in the open space, and we get along fine.
This is a minor issue, and I am curious as to what other people think.
I am just not a big fan of wasting words. If I don't include a procedure, I don't see why users would invent in, but has been already pointed I'm not the one dealing with the customers on a daily basis.
Yehoshua
On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 7:16 PM, Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
I think adding such a note can't hurt the users. I don't see it 'hindering' them in any way. And adding it may help your relationship with the support guy. If the inclusion really is so tiny and meaningless, then there's no point in starting a controversy with him.
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>________________________________
> From: yehoshua paul <ysp10182 -at- gmail -dot- com>
>To: tech2wr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
>Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 9:07 AM
>
>Subject: When is it too much information?
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>While reviewing the latest release notes that my company sends out every
>couple of weeks, one of the support guys suggested that I add the following
>words (or something similar) to one of the change descriptions: "The user
>does not need to do anything." What changed is information that was
>displayed in one area of the UI is no longer displayed. The support guy
>thought the users might think they need to do something, now that they no
>longer see this information.
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>I told him, if the users needed to do something, I would write this in the
>release notes like I did with some of the other changes, and include the
>relevant steps, or the appropriate reference to the online help. If I
>didn't write anything, why would the users think they need to do something?
>His argument was that it doesn't hurt to add the sentence, and it may
>prevent confused customers from calling customer support.
>
>What do you guys think? Would
adding a superfluous sentence (in my opinion)
>help or hinder users.
>
>Yehoshua
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