On 1/24/07, Ferenc Szekely <ferenc at maemo.org> wrote: > I have written a manual and would like to > collect feedback from you: > http://test.maemo.org/applications/user-manual Very nice! Here are my first thoughts, primarily from a consumer perspective. I personally think this PoV is *very* important, having written user-manuals for (apparently) simple operations and tasks which I thought were as clear as possible, only to have inexperienced, confused and - yes - bloody minded users poke holes in my prose :-) I've not looked at the less consumer-oriented project admin sections ... __General Points__ o Limit (but don't hard code!) the text width for better readability o Break the document into two; separate the "how to use a website" tutorial (Browsing/Searching/Installing) which "users" will read out from the "how to be a project admin" section (Adding/Changing/Deleting). They are aimed at two very different audiences and the latter half of the document will only scare consumers ... :-) __Section-specific Points__ * Introduction to Application Catalog o Don't make the link to the "old wiki based catalog" clickable. Put the URL after it for reference, but don't provide an easy way to revert to the old, un-updated mechanism. o The third sentence has a typo: "at the end of 2<006," o The fifth sentence should read "if you could enter your feedbacks IN our issue tracker" o Consider making the "maemo2midgard-discussion" link a mailto: link, with the mailman interface link in brackets at the end of the sentence. * Overview o Use full sentences (Think Of The Children^WConsumers!) ("Browse through the list of all available applications" vs "browse applications", etc.) o Link the verbs through to the appropriate section. * Installation with install file o "make sure that it matches the operating system version" - how, as a consumer? Are there any (well, I *know* there are!) rules of thumb they can apply? o "Applications that are placed in a proper "Debian style" repository can have "install files" and making the single click installation possible" - consumers don't care. This is more appropriate in the "Adding a project" section, as it's a developer's choice, not a user's ... * Installation without install file o Tidy this section up. Use more whitespace. Perhaps make a screenshot trail. It will probably be one of the most frequently used sections by consumers and, as such, *very* obvious/clear/pretty instructions will really help this audience to get the most out of their device. HTH, Jonathan -- Jonathan Matthews-Levine|matthewslevine at gmail.com "That sounds vaguely obscene, and if there's one thing I cannot *stand*, it's vagueness." -- Dean Grennell
