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Subject:User documentation: tip sheets From:Peggy Thomson <Peggy_Thompson -at- CCMAIL -dot- OSTI -dot- GOV> Date:Wed, 17 May 1995 10:25:00 -0400
Our customer is nudging us away from the traditional user manual
(which we have steadily whittled down to a high-points,
quick-find, topical approach) to an even leaner approach: "cheat
sheets," wherein a single, frequently used procedure is printed
on card stock.
So enamoured is our customer with this approach, that we are
beginning to see a proliferation of these cards to the point
you'd think a user would be driven nuts shuffling through cards.
We think procedures commonly performed by most users should be
in the user guide and that tip sheets should be reserved for
procedures performed uncommonly or only by a small group of
users.
Have any of you had experience with this tip sheet--or topical
card, as my customer calls it--approach? Does it work? Does it
frustrate users? Please send me your thoughts.
