Prototyping a User's Manual

Subject: Prototyping a User's Manual
From: Linda Sherman <linsherm -at- GTE -dot- NET>
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 18:36:24 -0400

Hi gang,

My brother and I are giving serious thought to developing and selling a
fairly large and complex software product (it doesn't matter what it is,
and we're not telling anyway! :).

The issue of how to go about designing this monster has come up. One
suggestion I heard years ago but have never actually seen used on a
software project was to write a prototype of the user's manual
/*before*/ beginning actually development of the product. The nature of
this particular software and its likely audience is such that this idea
has captured my fancy.

However, we have limited personnel resources and I don't want to invest
them on something that would be a waste of time.

I was wondering if anybody has ever actually done this on a software
development project, and if so:

1. Did it help the design/development process enough to be worth the
effort?

2. Did it include screen shots, menu layouts, etc. and if so, who
determined their content and appearance?

3. Was it reviewed by potential users/buyers? If so, to what extent were
their suggestions incorporated into the shipped product?

4. Was it revised lightly/moderately/heavily/not at all before it was
handed over to the developers?

5. Was it integrated directly into the specification, or used mainly as
a basis for the specification?

6. Was the prototype used as a basis for the shipped version of the
user's manual, or was the latter basically written from scratch?

7. To what extent did the final product reflect the original concept as
expressed in the prototyped manual?

8. Was the prototype manual used as marketing tool to generate interest
before the product was actually shipped? If so, how much effort was made
to make it look slick? And was it presented to prospects as "the" user
guide or as a draft version?

Any comments, suggestions, advice, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

L.
--
Linda K. Sherman <linsherm -at- gte -dot- net>
Freelance Writer: Technical - Business - Government

From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=




Previous by Author: Re: Need Help Fast!!!
Next by Author: Re: Winword.exe Error
Previous by Thread: ADMIN: TECHWR-L Responsibilities
Next by Thread: Re: Prototyping a User's Manual


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads