Re: RTFM? Really?

[Mike Starr <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com>]

So, maybe instead of RTFM, we should just say RTFD (Read The F***ing 
Documentation) and separate the delivery method from the fact that there 
actually is adequate documentation even if the customer doesn't bother 
with it.Nancy's got a really good point. We do the best we can to 
provide whatever assistance we can to our customers. How we deliver that 
assistance is secondary to actually getting our customers to consult 
that assistance. It doesn't matter whether it's on paper, a PDF, online 
help or whatever... if our customers fail to avail themselves of what 
we've created for them, they're going to pick up the phone.

If enough customers call that a company needs a call center staffed 
24/7/365 that's an additional expense that we'd like to avoid or at 
least minimize. Some calls can't be resolved by telling the customer to 
RTFM because some products actually have design flaws whether it's 
software or hardware. However, hopefully those calls are a minimum 
percentage of the calls we receive.

But the fact is that in many cases, the vast majority of calls can be 
resolved by getting the customer to RTFM (no matter what delivery method 
we use). No matter how good the FM is or what delivery mechanism we 
choose, it's like pulling teeth to achieve acceptance and use of the FM 
among the customers. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it 
drink.

I'd just about finished this screed when I took a look at Tony's 
followup... Tony said:

   Customers want out of the box functionality, with some power-user
   customization.

That's fine for one-trick pony products but when the product is an 
incredibly powerful and complex product with a lot of options, it's a 
whole different ball game. Products of that nature require comprehensive 
documentation. You can't just do a quick-reference that tells the 
customer how do do a dozen or so simple procedures. You need to give 
them reference material that explains how the (e.g.) 20 different 
controls (radio buttons, drop-downs, etc.) on a specific dialog box 
affect how the process they want to accomplish is performed... how those 
variations in control settings affect the results. Many will say to 
simplify the product but if the marketplace demands that level of power 
and complexity (and more importantly if the competition is providing 
it), that's not always a workable option. I've worked with products with 
that level of complexity and routinely beaten up the programmers and 
engineers when there's a better way to present options to the customers 
but even that doesn't always get the customer the information they need 
if they don't consult the documentation.

Best Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Starr, Writer
Technical Writer   -    Online Help Developer   -   WordPress Websites
Graphic Designer - Desktop Publisher - Custom Microsoft Word templates
(262) 694-1028   -  mike -at- writestarr -dot- com   -  http://www.writestarr.com
President - Working Writers of Wisconsin http://www.workingwriters.org/

On 9/26/2014 11:53 AM, Nancy Allison wrote: