Re: The dangerous myth of the "completely intuitive product"

[Brian Daley <briand -at- MEI -dot- COM>]

I think the idea behind intuitive products is not to get rid of tech
writers or to make us second-class citizens, but to give the users of the
product something they can really use.  In our case selling medical
instrumentation, oftentimes manuals are not kept near the equipment.
Sometimes they get locked in a supervisor's office and a 3rd-shift nurse or
technician does not have the key.  Therefore, having some kind of online
documentation could make our product more useful, and generate repeat
business.  Perhaps this will require different skills than we now have, but
our careers are based on learning new information and communicating that
information to a less-informed audience.  We'll learn how to design screens
instead of pages.  If we're lucky we can really become part of the product
development team and lend some of our expertise -- you know...all those
"dumb" questions we ask that the product designers never really thought
about but are really important!

So, I think an intuitive product is always the goal, and that there will
always be a need for technical communicators (or "human factors
specialists" or something related...)



-BD

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      "What matters is not DOW's average, but YOUR average."

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Brian Daley            |     Marquette Electronics, Inc.
briand -at- mei -dot- com         |     Diagnostic Division - Technical Communication
(414) 362-3133         |     8200 West Tower Avenue
FAX: (414) 357-5988    |     Milwaukee, WI  53223  USA