Tag: #communication
Don’t say ‘it will take five minutes’
Avoid claiming unrealistic time estimates like “5 minutes” for product onboarding or tutorials. Realistic estimates like “a couple hours” are more honest and set appropriate expectations. 2017-03-14
Don’t use the word ‘simply’
Avoid using the word “simply” as it can come across as insulting to the reader by implying the task is easy or the reader is stupid. Instead, rephrase to be more objective and avoid comparatives like “simply” or “just.” 2017-02-22
Documentation black holes: things we write that don’t get read
Documentation often ends up in black holes - internal documents, issue trackers, test cases, conversations, commit messages, and wikis - where it goes unread. Focus on writing documentation that people will actually read, like product names, homepages, and inline help. 2014-08-13
All content copyright James Fisher.