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Subject:Re: Using Screen Shots(was sizing) From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- STARBASECORP -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 30 Mar 1995 16:42:14 -0800
Auli Ingman writes...
[snip some stuff on sizing]
> If you want to emphasize just part of the screen, do that by shading or arrows
> or whatever your graphics software support. I think it's important to exhibit
> the whole screen so that your reader maintains their orientation.
The Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, V23 N4, 1993,
published an article titled "Applying Minimal Manual Principles for
Documentation of Graphical User Interfaces"
The article was, basically, the results of a test in which three
groups of students were given documentation and tasks to perform.
All the documentation contained the same verbiage. One set had
no graphics, one set had button and icon graphics, and one set
had screen shots.
Guess what, guys! The students who got the doc *with* the screen
shots took longer to perform the tasks and retained less information
than the other two groups of students did!
Moral: Cut down on the number of screen shots and don't be afraid
to zoom in on portions of screens, buttons, and icons!
FWIW...
Sue Gallagher
StarBase Corp, Irvine CA
sgallagher -at- starbasecorp -dot- com
