Choosing a medium for your message: what determines the choice of delivery media for technical documentation?

ABSTRACT

The current variety of media available to developers of technical documentation makes possible a richness of expression that goes beyond traditional conceptions. Rich and effective documentation can result from a judicious combination of media. The introduction of new media techniques to the traditions of technical documentation creates not only new opportunities, but new problems as well. This paper presents a case study of an ongoing project at Apple Computer that encountered numerous such opportunities and problems. We show what gave rise to them, how we dealt with them, and finally present some guidelines for documentation teams contemplating going “beyond the book.”

REFERENCES

• 1: Apple Computer, Inc. Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple Desktop Interface. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Reading, MA, 1987.
• 2: Postman, N. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York: Penguin, 1986.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Training, help, and documentation; Theory and methods

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors, Theory