Usable Help http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/ Examining onscreen user assistance for computers, software, and consumer products. Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:48:00 -0500 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 uhcomments@g2meyer.com (Gordon Meyer) en-us http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/elements/logo4rss.gif Usable Help http://www.usablehelp.com/ 44 43 You've got 6 seconds http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/733.html Mashable's Learn How to Cook in 15 Vine Videos should be deeply disturbing to instructional designers, at least at first glance. It's a laughable idea to learn how to make a dish in a six-second or less video. But, after you watch them, many of them are surprisingly useful.

According to Attention Span Statistics, about 12 seconds and 593 words is all you'll get from your average reader. Make the most of it.

]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:46:00 -0500 Press 1 for more options that don't make sense http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/732.html Mark Evanier, writing Phone-A-Friend, describes the pain of navigating an automated telephone system. It strikes me how the user experience challenges of these systems are similar to those being faced by instructional designers created video-based instructions. The sequential nature of the instructions, the primitive navigational controls, the penalty for making an incorrect choice are present in both mediums. If you approached your company's answering system as a documentation problem, how would it differ from it's current implementation?

]]> Sat, 8 Jun 2013 10:18:00 -0500 Museums for technical writers http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/731.html

Dawn Stevens, writing Your Documentation Belongs in a Museum! for CIDM, describes what technical writers can learn from the instructional design of museums. Highlights include supporting non-linear access, recognizing that not everyone wants to read so much, and keeping things fresh. Some good food for thought, for certain.

If you'd like to see some computer documentation that's in a museum, you're looking for Computer History Museum instead.

]]> Sat, 1 Jun 2013 16:50:00 -0500 Another reason not to rely on FAQs http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/730.html

A reminder from Chicago artist Matt Fagan.

See also: Measuring Your FAQ

]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 10:43:00 -0500 Writing to avoid trunca... http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/729.html There's no surer sign of a sloppy engineer, and perhaps a tech writer sleepwalking through their job, then a UI string that doesn't fit in its allocated space. The anonymous example below is a good one. Detect End-of-What, exactly?

]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 10:25:00 -0500 Apple Style Guide 2013 released http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/728.html Apple's in-house style guide, last publicly updated in 2009, is now available in a 2013 edition. Previously called "Apple Publications Style Guide," the introduction says the book has been renamed to reflect non-printed deliverables. It's available in PDF and browsable HTML.

See also: Justifying a Style Guide

]]> Sun, 12 May 2013 15:56:00 -0500 Is text-speak really teh sux0r? http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/727.html John McWhorter, a linguist, has a great TED Talk on the subject of "texting grammar" and how it compares to the traditional written word. It's easy to dismiss the evolving style, but McWorter's perspective just might change your mind. And we all know that technical writing is a bastion of old-school style.

The talk, "Txtng is killing language. JK!!!," is discussed (and embedded) at John August's Writing vs. Speaking.

]]> Sun, 5 May 2013 13:43:00 -0500 The novelty of actually reading the manual http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/726.html The Internet is awash in advice about how to increase your productivity, but there's one tip that is such common sense it is often left unsaid. Namely, read a product's manual. Even if you've been using a product for a while, and consider yourself an experienced user, there is likely still something to learn by skimming the doc. That's the premise of Victor Agreda, Jr's Productivity Tip.

Agreda links to The Manual--And Why We Don't Read It, and it's also worth perusing. Gary Hoffman argues that manuals are too often written for "blithering idiots" and, he says, learning how to do something would spoil the fun of figuring out how to do it yourself.

]]> Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:34:00 -0500 Justifying a style guide http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/725.html Patrick Cox writes Do I Really Need a Style Guide? While it's focused on web style guides, the rationale it provides applies to documentation style guides, too.

See also: Developing a Useful Style Guide

]]> Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:49:00 -0500 Usable Help on Flipboard http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/singles/724.html If you're a Flipboard user, and want to receive Usable Help using that fine app, you can subscribe to the new Usable Help on Flipboard magazine. All future posts will appear there automatically. Thanks in advance.

Will Flipboard's magazine platform succeed? Beats me. But Paul Armstrong thinks it's a big deal. It's certainly interesting, at the very least.

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