You v User-formerly Using the Term "User"

[Susan Gallagher <Susan_Gallagher_at_Enfin-SD -at- RELAY -dot- PROTEON -dot- COM>]

Reply-To: Gary Dettmers <garyd -at- TEKELEC -dot- COM>
original message:
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At our company we have moved away from the term "the user" to a more friendly
and personal voice by using a different person. We now say "you" in our
manuals to give the reader the feeling that she is recognized by the writer.
We felt any other method left our readers with the feeling that we were being
distant in our approach.

When our engineering group prepares a product functional specification, they
use "the user" as a reference for whom the final product will be designed.
This is acceptable because a PFS is an internal document and our customer's
never see them.


Does anyone else use a first person approach in their documentation?

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Since our software is aimed at the application developer (we try to hit 'em
right between the ears), we use "you" to speak to "the user" of our product.  We
do, however, use "the user" to refer to the ultimate-end-user of the application
developers product.  IMnsHO, docs that address the third person exclusively
sound old-fashioned and stuffy!

Sue Gallagher                                 |
Sr. Technical Writer                          |      "Updating a manual
Easel Corporation                             |     is like changing tires
Enfin Technology Lab                          |       on a moving car."
San Diego, CA                                 |        -- Edmond Weiss
Susan_Gallagher_at_Enfin-SD -at- relay -dot- proteon -dot- com |