Usable Help: “Examining documentation and help systems for software and consumer products.”
Great content plus a great blogroll on technical writing. Recommend for all folks dealing with technical documentation (you know who you are, don’t you).
(via michael-mccracken.net).
I’d like to add that
* the best documentation is the one which doesn’t need to be written
* an FAQ clearly shows that there are problems with the software itself
This may sound snootily if heard from a non-hacker, but it simply shows that the software model doesn’t fit the user model.
Of course tech products like software need to be documented, but both the user as well as the manufacturer benefit if the amount of documentation needed gets reduced by clever software design.
Last but not least it frees human resources resp. saves some employees đ .