Jeopardy questions

Chapter 1

Knowledge that is based on experience and often unexpressed.  What is tacit knowledge?

Tutorial, procedural, and reference. What are the forms of software documentation?

A layout of pages that reflects the importance of information. What is semantic orientation?

A method of organizing technical material that mirrors the user's job demands.  What is task orientation?

A type of writing that supports cognitive processing. What is parallelism?

A way to develop documentation based on user involvement.  What is the usability process?

Efficiency and effectiveness.  What are the goals of software documentation?

Tasks that require the identification of information of value in organizations. What are knowledge work tasks?

The user of a manual that is implicit in the menu structure of a program. What is the default user?

A symptom of the default user faced with a flood of technical information? What is information overload?

A group of persons who use a certain program and share information about it.  What is a user group?

Chapter 2

That which a tutorial is organized around.  What is a user action?

A statement that articulates what the user wants to accomplish in the real world.  What is an objective?

A method of identifying which user actions to support?  What is central to j. performance? What is essential for use? What is frequency of performance?

A kind of tutorial that appears automatically when a user uses a particular program feature. What is embedded help?

Borrows elements of instructional principles from the field of instructional design.  What is direct instruction?

The technique that turns the reader loose but gives steps to recover.  What is the training wheels technique?

The approach based on the idea that users "jump the gun."  What is the minimalist approach?

A tutorial that encourages the user to "try out" a program feature.  What is a guided exploration?

A tutorial consisting of a limited version of a computer program.  What is a demonstration?

The repetition of "action/result...action/result".  What is a pattern of exposition?

The creation of a close relationship between the writer and the reader in tutorials.  What is the intention to teach?

The fundamental task represented in a tutorial.  What is the typical use scenario?

A structure of learning that builds one skill onto another. What is cumulative?

The knowledge that the user has to bring to the task of learning.  What is the task domain?

 

  1. True or false: The primary organization of tutorial documentation is around tasks and skills.
  2. Knowledge about the user's workplace and profession is called what? 
  3. True or false: The "Guided Exploration" tutorial asks users to "try it."
  4. Showing the user where to look to perform a task is called a) making it simple, b) making it visible or c) making it systematic.
  5. What distinguishes an instruction manual from other forms of tutorials?
  6. How should you organize the skills in a tutorial?
  7. What are some techniques you would use to write a minimalist tutorial?
  8. Is it more common to have a manual that covers every feature of a program, or one that just covers a few key features?
  9. Name the primary "intention" of a tutorial.
  10. Of the two approaches to teaching software programs presented in the chapter, which one do you personally think would work best?

Quiz Chapter 3 Writing to Guide—Procedures

What a meaningful task should relate to.  What are workplace actions?

A detail or element you can use to enrich procedures.  What are ... (page 68)?

A format that is recognizable by most users.  What is standard format?  (73)

A format that presents steps in a paragraph.  What is prose format?  (74)

A format that is useful when showing users how to fill out forms.  What is parallel format?  (77)

A "coach" is an example of this kind of help.  What is embedded help?  (78)

This process starts with a step and ends with a step.  What is a rhythm of exposition. (80)

This an example of a "level" of documentation.  What is guidance, teaching, or support? (82)

A kind of language useful in procedures and task names.  What is performance-oriented? (83)

This element of a procedure directs the user's activity.  What is a step?  (84)

This is what documentation writers drink when they are in a bar.  What is a screen shot? (88)

 

  1. Name a situation where you would want to use the parallel format for instructions.
  2. Describe elements of the standard format for procedures.
  3. What is embedded help?
  4. A well constructed task name emphasizes a) keystrokes, b) performance, or c) program functions.
  5. The part of a procedure that tells a story is called a(n) a) anecdote, b) scenario, or c) background.
  6. Name two ways to add detail to a procedure.
  7. True or false:  Making references to other sections in a manual is not a good way to add detail to procedures.
  8. One way to make a procedure easy to do is to a) skip the hard steps, b) use simple terms only, or c) keep the numbering system consistent.
  9. In a procedure it’s a good idea to present your options in a) steps, b) screens, or c) tables.
  10. Procedures represent a) tutorial documentation, b) guidance documentation, or c) reference documentation.

Appendices, job aids, and flipcards are examples of this.  What are forms of reference? (93 ff)

These things are commands, interface elements, definitions of terms...  What are things to include? (100 ff)

Alphabetical, and menu-by-menu are examples of this.  What are ways to organize?  (103-5)

This kind of entry orients the reference user.  What is a library entry?  (108)

This concept is a key to making reference entries work.  What is structure?  (110-111)

"How do I get to a function?" is an example of this. What is a question reference users ask? (111)

 

Quiz Chapter 4 Writing to Support—Reference

  1. True or false: Reference users are usually experienced users.
  2. Name a form of reference.
  3. What is the main element in the design of reference entries?
  4. Basically you have how many usual forms of reference a) one, b) three, or c) hundreds?
  5. The section of a manual containing useful but inessential information is called the a) preface, b) footnote, or c) appendix.
  6. What do you call a sample reference entry included to help the user understand the reference entry format?
  7. True or false: All reference sections basically look alike.
  8. Software glossaries usually contain definitions of concepts relating to the software and concepts relating to: a) computers in general, b) the program subject matter, or c) software programming.
  9. Name two primary ways to organize reference sections?
  10. True or false: In reference sections, structures, often parallel or repeated structures, abound.