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"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”
– Nelson Mandela

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Week 3 Discusssion 1

Week 3 Discusssion

Q You are also asked to respond to at least one other student in the class on his or her response. Your response to your fellow student is due by this week Sunday at midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST). _______________ Your third writing assignment will be to write a quick start guide. This discussion topic is designed to help you become more familiar with what a quick start guide is and what its function is in technical writing. To learn about quick start guides, please examine the three resources provided in Content in week 3: • What is a Quickstart Guide? • Quick Reference Guides Right Where You Need Them • Technical Writing Tips: The 80/20 Rule You might also benefit from looking at the Sample Quick Start Guides in Content in week 3. While these quick start guides are longer than the one you will be writing, they present different strategies for incorporating text and images to accommodate their users. Then answer the following questions. Your answers can be 2-3 sentences: 1. Most quick start guides are one page long. They have to be one page so that the user can look at them at a glance. What are some of the challenges to reducing a set of instructions of, for example, 3-4 pages into one page? 2. How does the 80/20 rule relate to the usefulness of quick start guides? 3. In your experience, when you purchase a product or a new piece of software, do you tend to use the user manual more, or do you tend to use the quick start guide more? Why?

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1. The challenge with making these quick start guides shorter is that it could leave readers with a lot of questions, especially if they have a unique circumstance. Another difficulty could arise if the user uses a product that is similar to the one described in the quick start guide but that performs differently or if there is a setting that can be changed that is not included in the fast start guide. It could be challenging for the writer to decide what information is the most important for the guide to be applicable to the majority of readers. 2. According to the 80/20 rule, 80% of users only utilize 20% of a program's functionality. In light of this, as well as the fact that we operate in a fast-paced corporate environment where time management is crucial, it's critical to concentrate the brief guide's attention on the key aspects that users are most likely to find interesting.