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FW: Tutorials: how to walk users through a printed quick tour
Subject:FW: Tutorials: how to walk users through a printed quick tour From:Lynn Perry <CLPerry -at- WALLDATA -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 16 Apr 1999 14:15:43 -0700
> nburns -at- BREAULT -dot- COM wrote:
<snip>
> Which method below would most novice users benefit from when using a
> printed
> "Quick Tour" tutorial. ...
> 1) Steps are succinctly delineated with bullets or numbered items,
</snip>
Definitely #1. We have a QuickStart tutorial that provides a numbered list
with *no* explanation at all. The first paragraph tells them where to find
into, and there is an extensive Related Topics list. Also, we provide a very
detailed tutorial (many screens long, with next and prev buttons). Even in
these tutorials, we jump them to other topics, providing numbered steps with
explanatory paragraphs following the step. (I personally like that the step
is by itself. That way, the user can skip the explanation if s/he wants, but
the info is still locationally related to the step.)
IMO, anything that has "Quick" in the title should have the least amount of
info possible. As long as they can't get themselves into any trouble (like
reformatting the hard drive), sending them to additional topics is the
solution we came up with.
C. Lynn Perry
clperry -at- walldata -dot- com
Wall Data Incorporated / Seattle WA
Some days it doesn't pay to gnaw through the straps
