[Elecraft] Need for advice was; (More Thorough Documentation)

[Don Nelson]

On 12/7/2010 6:24 AM, samuel ernst-fortin wrote:
> Bill,
> FWIW: my background is EE with a minor in Industrial Psych (specifically Human
> Factors / Ergonomics / Usability Engineering). One book which resonated with me
> as an engineer is "Psychology of Everyday Things". In it, the author discusses
> mental models, and those of the developer vs. those of the user. When those
> mental models fail to intersect or the mental model of the user is inaccurate
> (both will often be the case with a complex system) - you have the problem being
> described by the various users here.
>
> This is a field of study that gets a lot of attention in the Aviation community
> with Flight Management Systems and highly complicated flight deck automation.
>
> To be more terse and to this point: the mental model of the developers as to how
> the K3 rig features are designed to work and be operated for maximum performance
> hasn't been effectively communicated or fostered in the user community. This is
> not a situation specific to the K3 of course. In some respects the rig's
> features drives the operators actions instead of the other way around... and
> people are fumbling around with them till they seem to get something that
> "works".
>
> Luckily, this situation can be cured. A K3 is no Boeing 787 Flight Management
> System.
>
> As to "nobody reads books", while I think this is true of some segment of the
> population (in engineering school - I knew many people who never read their
> textbooks... turned in pristine books as used)... I still have mine and often
> refer to them at home and at work - that "model" doesn't accurately describe the
> HAM community as a whole.
>
>
> Personally, I like and will forever prefer books, where I can hold it or put it
> down, annotate and dog-ear and mark and flag pages, navigate it as I wish and
> see the totality of the topic subject matter, gauge it by it's physical
> dimensions. I don't find the "massively hyper-linked, ever-changing, fragmented
> and presented in many silly windows" means of communicating technical
> information nearly as effective.
>
> I prefer books. :)
> Sam, KJ4VPI
>
>
>

For those in a decision making position on a product line, the thought 
of more sales would be most welcome.

How many HAMs have not wanted to buy a K3, for example, because it is 
too complicated? Now there is a challenge. The K3 is complicated and 
those would-be buyers are correct in their assessment. Now enter a 
really outstanding tech writer. Some who who has the knack and a sense 
of what is needed in a document to compel the reader to try the product. 
The user manual is available to anyone who wants to download it from the 
web – a wise marketing tool. If the user manual was well enough done, a 
would-be HAM would learn how the product works, in detail, and enjoy the 
process of learning about that product.

The current K3 user manual is more of a reference manual. It is compact 
and efficient in presenting information without the inefficiency of 
examples and explanation. A user manual would be much more than that and 
would have the luxury of including examples and comparisons of different 
settings with explanations of how and why a feature works the way it does.

I can believe that at least 250 more K3s would be sold if there was a 
good K3 user manual and other marketing documentation (user useful 
material). If my calculator is correct, that would be on the order of 
$1,000,000 in additional sales. Now if I were in that decision making 
position , I surely would sit up and do more than take notice.

Don, N0YE