On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:58:19 -0400, "Gary Schnabl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > John Kane wrote: > > On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:16:34 -0400, "Gary Schnabl" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > > > >> Michele Zarri wrote: > >> > >>> Totally agree. Problem is that when people use the guide as a > >>> reference manual (and most do) they just jump to the section you are > >>> interested in, expecting to find all the information they need. For > >>> this reason, it makes sense to me to avoid saying that to change a > >>> gradient you open the Area page/tab :-D if you just said 10 lines > >>> above that this is the page to set the area properties, but I am sure > >>> someone will complain about the quality of the manual if we did so. > >>> > >> The typical users have evolved to the point whereby the GUI component > >> names could be dispensed with, for the most part. If I were to say > >> something of my driving a car with a 5-speed tranny, I wouldn't go into > >> much detail about the gear-shifting procedure (or the specific auto > >> components involved) but instead I might say to upshift from second to > >> third. Just about anybody whom I would be talking to would clearly know > >> and understand fully without my going into needless details. > >> > >> PCs have been around a long time now and are commodities today and their > >> use is very intuitive, by design. It's about time to stop going into as > >> much detail as in the past when describing how to run various functions, > >> etc. Some developers don't even include instructions anymore--for some > >> evidence of that. > >> > >> Gary > >> > > > > I agree in part but what is intuitive to an experienced user is not > > necessarily intuitive to a new user. I spent years using mainframes and > > it took me quite a while to realize what proportional fonts could do to > > my output. A decimal tab? What's that? > > > > On the OOo Calc forum it is not unknown for someone to recommend > > picking up a used Excel or Quatro Pro "How to" book to learn the basics > > of using a spreadsheet. TJe Calc manuals assume a basic knowledge of > > spreadsheets. > > > > Also we are serving a world-wide audience. It may be that computers are > > very common in, say , the OECD countries but it is not always true in > > other parts of the world. > > ----- > > John Kane > > Kingston ON Canada > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > (613) 888-2399 > > > > It's my suspicion that the more experienced users are more prone to read > documentation--and they usually can breeze through them. That's why an > abridged version (a "Reader's Digest" quick start) is usually included > with various hardware/software.
I think you're looking at two markets. The experienced user who simply needs the correct syntax or a hint of where to look in help and the complete newbie, who may have just turned on a computer for the first time and who needs 'very' detailed help. I bought an 800+ page how-to book for Excel 1.0 as it was my first spreadsheet and pretty well my first experience with a GUI interface. I bought the MS Office package a few years later and still curse MS for not including a decent manual. Word is really weird when you have been using some of the other MAC wordprocessors. > > Reading (of anything textual) in the US is rumored to be at a very low > level, with only a tiny percentage essentially reading all the books and > such. If that is the case with OOoAuthors docs, then going into much > detail is probably quite unnecessary. > > Gary But that is the USA[1]. Also you're probably not talking about the typical US user of OOo. They are almost certainly going to be better motivated and better educated. If not, they would not need anything like OOo. The typical computer user probably only need a hotmail acouunt. I don't think it is likely to be worth our while to go to the very basics of how to use a mouse but we could also err by making the information to advanced. How to hit a balance is definitely a problem. 1. I am suspicious of that statistic. I heard a discussion of it on the radio and I think it was drawn from those people who read "literature". If we include Harlequin Romances, Sports Illustrated, Steven King, Chilton's auto repair manuals, the Joy of Cooking , the sports page and many specialized publications I suspect the number goes up drastically. The reading is likely to be very specialized ,perhap, and many people may never have heard of John Irving or Kingsley Amis but that does not mean that things are not being read. ----- John Kane Kingston ON Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] (613) 888-2399 -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Faster than the air-speed velocity of an unladen european swallow
