atw: Re: A campaign to improve end-user documentation
- From: "Geoffrey" <geoffrey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:13:06 +1100
Thanks Stuart. Just two comments:
1. Why prejudge the issue. Part of the purpose of the petition is to
gauge the rage. But even if the final numbers are paltry, should that make a
difference? Surely it’s the quality of the argument rather than the numbers who
bother to respond. At one stage in history, no one gave a rats about slavery,
but that didn’t mean that abolition wasn’t worth fighting for. I set out some
arguments in the last issue of Southern Communicator. For the benefit of a
healthy debate, challenge them if you wish.
2. I’m not suggesting we insist on “printed user manuals”. My point is
that purchasers have a right to know how the products they bought work (and a
right to know what the true cost of finding that out will be). If there are
comprehensive instructions on the web written by folk who how to write such
things well, then good. But that ain’t always the case. Seek help on many
features of MS Word or Adobe FrameMaker and you are sent off to a community
forum where you have to spend an inordinate time trawling through posts clothed
in appalling English written by people who believe they know the answers when
often they don’t. And will there always be a community forum for every product
you might want help on? Who is going to bother writing instructions on how to
use a steam iron. And even if such altruists exists, there will always be a
time lag between product release and the creation of a forum with enough
information in it to be useful (as there will be for every product whose
manufacturer relies on the goodwill of bloggers and the like). Where do you get
help during that phase?
Cheers
Geoffrey Marnell
Principal Consultant
Abelard Consulting Pty Ltd
P: 03 9596 3456
M: 0419 574 668
F: 03 9596 3625
Web: <http://www.abelard.com.au/> www.abelard.com.au
FB: <http://www.facebook.com/abelardconsulting> facebook.com/abelardconsulting
TW: @abelardconsult
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stuart Burnfield
Sent: Monday, 20 January 2014 5:23 PM
To: Austechwriter
Subject: atw: Re: A campaign to improve end-user documentation
I assume we are talking about traditional printed or online 'user manual'-type
documentation that is provided with consumer products.
Just to play devil's advocate for a minute:
* Do enough consumers care enough about this?
* Are the ACCC and AG the right people to deal with this?
People choose products for different reasons. Some people prefer to buy the
very cheapest, the trendiest, the simplest, the trusted brand name, the one
with the most features, the one that's the most sturdy and reliable. Usable
docs, if they're considered at all, would be a secondary consideration. If
people care enough about inadequate instructions they can return the product,
cause a fuss, tell their friends, vent their rage on whirlpool.org, contact
consumer affairs. If few people do these things it tells us that they're just
not bothered enough.
It's possible that Google and 'phone a friend' are the modern successors to the
printed user manual. Perhaps people under 40 rarely think to consult end-user
docs. What if the clerk at the ACCC who receives this petition immediately
discounts the issue as a fogey-fest, sees that not even 1,000 Australians were
bothered enough to spend 60 seconds reading and click-signing it, and
round-files it?
Maybe we as TWs should be thinking of ways to improve the effectiveness of 'ask
Google' rather than trying to prop up an obsolete publishing format.
The exceptions, as people have pointed out today, are safety and fitness for
purpose. These are absolute requirements but, you would expect, already covered
by legislation.
I agree with Peter, Terry and others that the channels most likely to be
effective are The Checkout and an annual shame awards run through Choice.
--- Stuart
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