Consumers report on the role of technical user texts in their daily life
Totally dismissed, or carefully perused?
Carel Jansen
Anyone involved in writing instruction manuals or usage instructions (user manuals and instructions for operation) has surely met with reactions tinged with pity. If one admits to being a specialist in technical communication, at, say, a reception or a party, one will be forced to contend with remarks such as these: “Now this work of yours – it is a sheer waste of energy! Who ever reads instruction manuals? It really does not matter whether your texts are good or not.” But this response is not restricted to birthday parties and receptions; the media, too carry pessimistic articles on the real use of good instruction manuals, quite regularly. In the words of the American, Rettig (1991, S.21): “[..] documentation writers have difficulty admitting to themselves: most people don’t read documentation.”