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Good documentation has both task-based and reference-based documentation. The problem with task-based documentation is that it covers the basic way of doing things. But if you have a powerful product with a lot of options, basic task-based documentation doesn't do anything at all to explain those powerful options... and that's something users need to be able to understand.
Best regards,
Mike
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Mike Starr, Writer
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> Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 10:54:07 -0400
> Subject: Re: Task-based versus UI-based documentation
> From: jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com
> To: ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com
> CC: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Writing UI based documentation assumes that your customers ALREADY KNOW
> where they need to go in your software to perform a task. Which is
> completely ridiculous if your product has any sort of complexity. The
> software products I am currently working on have tabs, subtabs, and then
> further subtabs. There are actions buried two or three levels deep,
> actions that you can do in dialog boxes, and really, no way that you could
> possibly know that there are additional settings for e-mail that are NOT on
> the E-mail tab.
>
> Writing task based documentation is basically saying, "What are you trying
> to do? OK, here's how you do it." Which only makes sense.
>
> Maybe if you're documenting something simple like a mobile app, you can
> write UI based documentation. I'm not saying it's not possible. But I
> think that in most cases, it's much less helpful than writing task based
> documentation. Your users are using software to DO something, they're
> performing tasks. Why wouldn't you write the documentation to help them
> perform those tasks?
>
> Hardware documentation may be a whole different animal. I wouldn't know,
> I'm not a hardware writer.
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 7:59 AM, Cardimon, Craig <ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com> wrote:
>
> > On another forum I frequent, many of the projects discussed are required
> > to follow the UI. For example, each tab of the home page is a topic.
> >
> > I believe the members of this forum advocate task-based documentation, but
> > I thought I'd ask:
> >
> > What method do the TechWhirlers prefer: Task-based or UI-based
> > documentation?
> >
> > Personally, I do things in a UI-based manner because that is what my
> > clients want.
> >
> >
> >
> > Cordially,
> >
> > Craig Cardimon | Technical Writer
> > Marketing Systems Group
> >
> >
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> --
> Julie Stickler
>http://heratech.wordpress.com/
> Blogging about Agile and technical writing
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