Limitations where?

[Mark Levinson <mark -at- CRABAPPLE -dot- BITNET>]

When writing about a product or a program, where do you normally
include its limitations?

** All kinds of places, depending on when the user needs to be told or
   reminded of the limitation.  Examples:

      IN ADVANCE:
      "This is a kosher turbo-oven and will reject all pork products."
       -- Right up front.  Someone may want to return the
          machine immediately.  Put the note at the start of the
          manual, prominently in the ReadMe, and/or even in the marketing
          materials.

      DURING OPERATION:
      "For health reasons, be sure not to undercook pork products."
       -- Some relevant place in the body of the instructions, such as setting
          the timer.  Could be in the ReadMe too.

      NEVER:
      "If the pig won't fit into the oven, don't climb in and try to
       pull it after you."
       -- Appendix or ReadMe.

    The midground is where the issue gets tricky.  On the one hand, some
    operational provisos could be relevant to many different procedures
    and can seem too prominent if you repeat or reference them too many
    times, while on the other hand an "Always Remember The Following Stuff"
    section on page 5 won't help the user on page 87.

    Also, marketing people may tell you to downplay the limitations, while
    R&D people may warn you (or worse yet, may not warn you) that the
    limitations are difficult to calculate and subject to change during
    the life of the manual.
__________________________________________________________________________
Mark L. Levinson, SEE Technologies, Box 544, Herzlia, Israel
mark -at- dcl-see -dot- co -dot- il | voice +972-9-584684, ext. 230 | fax +972-9-543917