Re: Self Documenting Interfaces

["Dan Kaminsky" <effugas best com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Preben Randhol <randhol@dusken4.samfundet.ntnu.no>
To: Kai Wetzel <k.wetzel@welfen-netz.com>
Cc: gnome-gui-list@gnome.org <gnome-gui-list@gnome.org>
Date: Thursday, July 23, 1998 1:23 PM
Subject: Re: Self Documenting Interfaces


>* Kai Wetzel
>| Hi, interesting line of thinking.
>
>| Despite harsh criticism of "Apple's" intuitiveness concept in
>| the GUI hall o' shame, etc. I think it's a good idea:  If you
>| _know_ what you want to do, you'll find the functionality in
>| your applications w/o looking up docs.  Of course it can't works
>
>95% of the questions I get on howdo I do this and that in Word etc is
>due to that people don't look up in the manuals. Therefore I don't
>like the idea to encourage people not to read the docs.


The fact is that very little documentation is actually readable.  It sucks
but it's true.  DOCUMENTATION IS TOO DAMN BORING.

They say 10% of features are used.  You'd be surprised how often those 10%
are self-documented features--both because users want them, and because
Microsoft wants less calls on how to get them.

>Well your dog sounds a lot like the paper clip IMHO


How much for that doggie in the window...