Why are GURPS directions better than Real Life?

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by edk926

I've helped write instructions before. It was a small part of a previous job. We didn't have a dedicated writer or editor. GURPS does. It helps immensely when you have people specifically devoted to the roles of writing and editing.

I can relate from the other side. I once applied for a job for a computer company where they decided to combine two part-time jobs into one full-time job. Half of the job would be, "Here's the directions for a new computer program we haven't yet released and that we won't tell you anything about--except for handing you the directions. See if following the directions works."

Unfortunately, I was the top candidate for one half of the job, but someone else was tops for the other half. So they decided to keep it as two part-time jobs, and I declined.

Originally Posted by whswhs

A long time back, when I studied technical writing, our instructor told us about one of her students, a firefighter, who wrote instructions on how to put on an oxygen mask. He tried his first draft out on a co-worker. The co-worker put on the mask and started to suffocate—because the student hadn't put in "turn on the oxygen" as an earlier step!

Oh boy. I've worn one of those things (I used to cover fires as a journalist), but I never put one on myself or anyone else. Good thing, because I might not have thought about turning on the oxygen either!

[Mark Skarr]

For several years, I was in charge of a group that was writing a document for a specific, yet highly detailed, process in the company I work for. After several years of writing and distributing this document and its revisions, only the last revision actually included the step to do what the previous steps led up to.

It was generally implied (by the name of the process) and the team members performing the work didn't actually need to be told to do the last step (it was obvious to them). But, we never told them to do it, until the last revision.

To this day, the team jokes about that omission ("Don't forget to tell them to turn it off!"), even though only three of us are still with the Company (but I keep in touch with the others), and we're all in different departments now.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

Beyond that, far too many product directions are written in the countries where they're made, and haphazardly "translated" into English.

The effects of English as a distant-second language.