#1

A stakeholder on one of the applications I work on provides support to users in certain roles. Individuals in these roles receive some paperwork upon assuming their positions, and this paperwork points them to the tutorials for this system. I was on the phone with him recently to discuss a change to the online help, and he said,

“When I point people to the tutorials, I rarely get a call back.”

This seems to prove my point that documentation can save on support costs. I don’t think it means that the users take the stakeholder’s response as meaning, “I don’t want to talk to you—go read the documentation instead” and just wash their hands of the whole thing.

#2

In another project meeting, we were discussing a training session for the users. The program manager asked the customer how long the session should be scheduled to take, and the answer was not more than two hours. The program manager said,

“The mind can absorb no more than the seat can endure.”

A good rule to remember when developing training. I found this saying attributed to Janet Trasli on the Web.

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