Can I just say how mind-blowing it is that companies keep making user manuals that make no sense except to someone who already knows how the thing works...
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Can I just say how mind-blowing it is that companies keep making user manuals that make no sense except to someone who already knows how the thing works...
Almost invariably they start with "here are the buttons", then proceed with an often both exhaustive & exhausting explanation of the terminology & then it's "troubleshooting".
Notice something missing?
Maybe something about how to use the fucking thing?
"Our thing can do X" - fucking HOW!?
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Can I just say how mind-blowing it is that companies keep making user manuals that make no sense except to someone who already knows how the thing works...
Almost invariably they start with "here are the buttons", then proceed with an often both exhaustive & exhausting explanation of the terminology & then it's "troubleshooting".
Notice something missing?
Maybe something about how to use the fucking thing?
"Our thing can do X" - fucking HOW!?
@jwcph Troubleshooting: our thing can indicate various problems by code blinking.
Next section: disposal of various parts.
...what's the code motherfuckers?!
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J jwcph@helvede.net shared this topic
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@jwcph Troubleshooting: our thing can indicate various problems by code blinking.
Next section: disposal of various parts.
...what's the code motherfuckers?!
@sahqon Here's what the error codes mean: *list that doesn't feature whatever error code is currently displayed*
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Can I just say how mind-blowing it is that companies keep making user manuals that make no sense except to someone who already knows how the thing works...
Almost invariably they start with "here are the buttons", then proceed with an often both exhaustive & exhausting explanation of the terminology & then it's "troubleshooting".
Notice something missing?
Maybe something about how to use the fucking thing?
"Our thing can do X" - fucking HOW!?
100% All instructions should start with ‘this is what does’ and then ‘this is how to do it.’ The same goes for tech based YouTube videos.
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100% All instructions should start with ‘this is what does’ and then ‘this is how to do it.’ The same goes for tech based YouTube videos.
@melbuckpitt @D_J_Nathanson Not even that. A manual/instruction should always be "here's how to do the thing you bought our product to do".
So rather than "this power drill makes holes" - which the user already knows; they need a hole & bought a power drill for that purpose (and yet so many manuals start like this; "this thermometer takes temperatures", oh really, no shit?) - it's "here's how you drill the hole you need, step by step".
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@melbuckpitt @D_J_Nathanson Not even that. A manual/instruction should always be "here's how to do the thing you bought our product to do".
So rather than "this power drill makes holes" - which the user already knows; they need a hole & bought a power drill for that purpose (and yet so many manuals start like this; "this thermometer takes temperatures", oh really, no shit?) - it's "here's how you drill the hole you need, step by step".
@melbuckpitt @D_J_Nathanson I have an old 50's sewing machine, the manual for which doesn't just show how the machine works in technical terms; it also has a bunch of instructions on how to sew common things - like making a button hole, hemming a skirt or making a curtain - because what's the use of knowing that a sewing machine sews if you don't know how to sew the thing you want to sew?
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Can I just say how mind-blowing it is that companies keep making user manuals that make no sense except to someone who already knows how the thing works...
Almost invariably they start with "here are the buttons", then proceed with an often both exhaustive & exhausting explanation of the terminology & then it's "troubleshooting".
Notice something missing?
Maybe something about how to use the fucking thing?
"Our thing can do X" - fucking HOW!?
@jwcph I bought a new coffee maker that was rather unlike what I've always had. I found reading the comments on the machine helped more than the manual.
