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Write a manual page for making a cup of coffee. Assume your user has no experience but will recognize a cup, a kettle, a spoon, etc. Swap your manual with a partner. Does your partner's manual give you sufficient instruction to make the cup of coffee? Discuss improvements with your partner and agree on a final version of the manual. answer First you have to decide upon the level of granularity at which you are going to work. The aim of the exercise is to demonstrate that it is not as straightforward as it might seem to provide instructions even for a very familiar and well-understood task. Given this, it is most helpful to assume that the user knows very little. The example solution (Table Ex11.1) assumes that the user will recognize objects (perhaps they are labelled) and understands common actions and directions, but not the specific actions required here. Alternatively you could choose to assume that the user does know how to turn on a tap and open a jar. N.B. The two options could be expanded further if required. Other alternatives could be included, such as getting water from another source.
The discussion should focus on the assumptions that are made. You should make a conscious decision about what assumptions to make, rather than making them by default. This should ensure that the assumptions that are made are appropriate to the particular user. You could also contrast your answers here, based on the material in this chapter, with the 'making tea' manual in Chapter 15. How useful do you feel task analysis is in designing a manual? |
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