http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1700 OVERVIEWStop confusing your Reader with the words you use. Your Reader is trying his/her best to understand how your product works without having to figure out your writing. Here are some writing guidelines to help you stop baffling your Reader.SAME CONCEPT: SAME WORDSUser Documents are not meant to be entertaining. Do not try to be creative, especially by using synonyms for specific concepts in your product. When you talk about a topic use the exact same wording ... Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:10 PST en-us http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1700 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1700 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:10 PST OVERVIEWPeople are visual creatures. They look at your product, and see, for example, a button or display. They want to find out about that control or indicator. A Visual Index is a simple but powerful document access tool that enables your Readers to find the information that they want.This article describes the Visual Index concept and tells how to create one for your document.A VISUAL INDEXA Visual Index is a picture of your product or process with links to... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1408 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1408 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:03 PST As a writer for hire, do you accept every job that comes along or do you have definitive and concrete standards? http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1273 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1273 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:20:17 PST OVERVIEWFor small companies, creating their product's User Documentation in-house, provides benefits to the company, to (idle) staff, and to the product. This article describes the benefits and some downsides of producing User Documents in-house.THREE OPTIONSIf you have no in-house writing staff you have three options:1. No User Document for the product. This is NOT a valid option. Every product needs User Documentation. It completes your product package, an... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1452 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1452 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:04 PST OverviewIncomplete User Documents disappoint your Readers. Two attitudes of many Technical Writers result in incomplete User Documents. These two attitudes are:. "Everyone Knows That", and. "The User Can Figure It Out"This article describes these attitudes and presents methods for overcoming them. The result is more effective User Documents and more satisfied Users.1. "Everyone Knows That"The "Everyone Knows That" attitude makes assumptions about your ... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1556 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1556 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OverviewYour editor should be an integral part of your writing team. Do not think of him/her as a judge, but rather as a resource to help you in all phases of the writing project. This article will help you overcome any fear of your editor, and how to effectively use your editor during the writing process.Beware of Your EditorSome of the changes that an editor might suggest could make the User Document more difficult for your Reader to understand.Improving You... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1557 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1557 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OVERVIEWSearches in User Documents (manuals, etc.) often fail because the Reader uses different words for a concept than the author uses. Since the Reader's words do not appear in the document, the document search mechanism cannot find them, resulting in frustration. This article describes a User-friendly technique for improving searches, without having to change the Users' behavior or the search software.YOUR READERS' WORDSPeople use the words that they know whe... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1558 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1558 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OVERVIEWMost product documentation sounds like their product is the only thing in the User's life. Such thinking results in User confusion and dissatisfaction. This article presents three real-life examples of this attitude, and what should be done to remedy these unfortunate situations. The article concludes with some techniques for the writer.BACKGROUNDThere are two important facts that User Documentation ignores:1. Your product is a only minor item in your ... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1559 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1559 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OverviewOur humdrum, sterile headings and writing manner do little to encourage our Users to read parts of the product documentation that would be especially beneficial for them. This article presents two real-world examples, how they fail their users, and how to correct the problems.Not the Legal & DisclaimersAlthough the Legal and Disclaimer sections of your documentation are important for the protection of your company (and protection of your company should be ... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1560 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1560 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:06 PST OVERVIEWIn your User Documentation, you direct your Reader to perform tasks with your product. If you don't tell your Reader what to expect when performing those tasks, you will have a baffled Reader, resulting in dissatisfaction and expensive calls to technical support.EXAMPLE: REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER FILTERI bought and installed a Reverse Osmosis water filter. The instructions told me to fill, and then empty (the instructions foolishly used the term "dump," which ... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1561 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1561 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:07 PST The User-Product Life Cycle (U-PLC) is a powerful tool for the User Document writer. Use the U-PLC to generate the high-level topics for your User Document.THE USER-PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE (U-PLC)Usually, when we think of a Product Life Cycle, we think in terms of the development and production of the Product itself. When writing User Documentation, consider the U-PLC to help you generate all the topics necessary for a complete document. User Documentation should support y... http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1835 http://net-teams.net/nti/Display.cfm/1835 Sun, 24 May 2009 11:57:13 PST