Re: Marketing block

[Julie Comstock-Fisher <julief -at- PDAINC -dot- COM>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues
> [mailto:TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU]On Behalf Of Brierley, Sean
> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 2:27 PM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Re: Marketing block

<snip>
> Seriously, where was the sign in relation to the door and what
distractions
> surrounded the sign. For example, a great Renoir might be pretty much
> invisible in the Louvre but would stand out greatly on the wall at the
local
> YMCA. Similarly, you might miss the tiger in the jungle, but not on Main
> Street. Was the sign camouflaged by similarly slick posters, signs, and
> other background noise?

Would you see the Renoir on the wall at the YMCA? I think the other side of
the coin is that you see what you expect to see--and do
not see what you don't expect. I think it's our brains' way of compensating
for living in a setting we were never evolved/designed
to cope with.

>From a tech-writing perspective, we do try to maintain a consistent layout
for similar materials. If we have web pages that convey
similar types of information, we arrange them similarly, in the hope that
our users will recognize the pattern and find what they
need. We also don't put anything important in the position occupied by
banner ads on most pages--just labels or simple graphics. If
the user misses those, it's not a great loss.

Julie Comstock-Fisher           Documentation Manager
julief -at- pdainc -dot- com                           PDA, Inc.
.....................................................
I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.
                                        -Gilda Radner

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