Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] How non-programmers use documentation.
From: ccb_AT_acm.org
Date: Mon Aug 27 2001 - 20:29:26 EEST
> The people I talked to don't look at these manuals... But that
> doesn't mean another group of potential users wouldn't.
And manual talk in general...
Check out the manuals that the Mackoids did for the Mackie mixers.
http://www.mackie.com/TechSupport/Tech_Library/Owners_Manuals/1642VLZPRO_OM.asp
is fairly representative.
Yamaha manuals from ~1990 to ~1998 were pretty decent. They started
with a tutorial section for the hands-on, task-oriented types followed
by a reference manual for folks like me that can't figure out what to
do without understanding the Theory of Operation. See the Yamaha
Manual Library (search google) to see nearly every Yamaha synth manual
from the last 2 decades.
I'm currently writing a tutorial manual for the Akai MPC2000XL. The
one in the box points out how it all works but doesn't tie it to music
making at all.
Once I'm done there I'll be turning attention to the documentation for
various Linux MIDI applications.
There are people that don't read documentation, no matter how tasty it
is. For these people, the principle of least astonishment is
essential. This is were standard windowing toolkits are your friend.
ccb
-- Charles C. Bennett, Jr. VA LiNUX Systems Systems Engineer, Northeast US 25 Burlington Mall Rd., Suite 300 +1 617 543-6513 Burlington, MA 01803-4145 ccb_AT_valinux.com www.valinux.com
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