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Re: Do techies really know what other techies need? (#718616)
Subject:Re: Do techies really know what other techies need? (#718616) From:mmarkley -at- MICRON -dot- COM Date:Thu, 20 Mar 1997 15:04:11 MST
Sella Rush wrote:
>My problem is that the programmer I work most closely with despises
>all my tries at making text more accessible.
>...he's a techie and knows what techies want and what they don't
>want is a lot of clear writing that might insult their intelligence.
>So, does anyone have any clever techniques for dealing with this
>argument?
Sella,
In my previous job, I was in a very similar situation, and I
experienced many of the same frustrations that you have. I received
the best results when I tried to do these two things:
1. Validate them on their level of expertise (and then use it
against them).
2. Try to put the needs of the company above everything else.
To illustrate, you could approach your resident techie
in this manner:
"You are certainly the most knowledgeable person on Earth in regards
to this product, but not all of our customers are as perceptive as you.
We need to dumb this information down for those people who buy our
product but lack your intellectual prowess. If we don't keep these less
fortunate people happy, they will not purchase our company's product.
And it is a well known fact that sales are directly linked to the
perception of the documentation. [Insert arbitrary statistical
information here.]"
I know that I have made light of it here, but this sort of logic has
worked for me...
Good luck,
Mike Markley
mmarkley -at- micron -dot- com
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