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Subject:Re: "one action per step" From:Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 10 Jun 1995 12:42:19 PDT
>>o Sometimes defining what constitutes "one action" can be
>>difficult: Do I write
>> "6. Type your username.
>> "7. Press <ENTER>."
>> or do I write "6. Type your username and press <ENTER>." ?
Putting <ENTER> in a separate step is indefensible. While some
people claims that it helps stupid people get through the instructions
successfully, it doesn't take much field observation to discover that
stupid people don't use manuals. In the meantime, everyone else gets
annoyed or lost in the light, puffed-up instructions, where every dollop
of information is diluted in a sea of obviousness.
The school of minimalist documentation, where you tell the reader only
what he doesn't already know (since restating the obvious accomplishes
nothing), has a lot to be said for it.
-- Robert
Robert Plamondon * Writer * robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (408) 321-8771
4271 North First Street, #106 * San Jose * California * 95134-1215
"Life is like an analogy."
