Thread: Feedback on the Nokia N900 User guides
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CryHavoc is offline CryHavoc
2010-02-09 , 18:30
Posts: 2 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Ireland
#28
Originally Posted by HSuhonen View Post
a) the printed Get started guide
Very nice. Just enough to get started, no more, no less. Given the price premium on the N900 it was nice to see the the GS guide was in colour.

Originally Posted by HSuhonen View Post
b) the in-device User guide (you can access it through File manager > Documents > User guides),
This is too hard to find. There should be an icon linking to this in the UI somewhere (maybe to a multilingual landing page).

Originally Posted by HSuhonen View Post
and c) the User guide PDF on the Nokia Support site.
Fine. Easy to find on the site. The manual is well laid out and comprehensive. The language is clear and easy to follow. (English manual)

Originally Posted by HSuhonen View Post
[*]What’s your opinion on the current concept of providing end user documentation, that is, a short, printed get started guide in the sales box, and the longer guides available on the web and in-device? Do you expect Nokia to provide a longer User guide in the sales box, or is the Get started guide enough?
This is the trend in the hi-tech industry - large manuals in digital format. I think this is fine. I suspect most of the contributors here would agree. Perhaps we are not a good representative of the general user though. We are more likely to be technically adept and motivated to find solutions. I doubt many here would actually read through a UG anyway.

The N900 packaging is very much reduced from what would have been shipped in previous years. It would not make sense to add a door stop of a manual to this.

Originally Posted by HSuhonen View Post
[*]Maemo 5 doesn't have a help framework. What’s your opinion, should there be one for Maemo 6? What would an ideal help system be in your opinion?
I think for general users you really do need an integrated help mechanism. Qt has a framework http://doc.trolltech.com/4.6/qthelp-framework.html - I don't know if it is any good though...

Since you are authoring in a structured format you would probably want to single source your help and doc.

Originally Posted by HSuhonen View Post
[*]And finally, how do you see the role of the Maemo community in providing end-user support? Do you think the community could be more involved in the process of making the User guides (for example, as a content reviewer)? What would, in your opinion, be a good solution for the community to get involved?
The community is good at helping motivated individuals to find solutions to complex problems and to share knowledge with those willing to learn. General support questions are probably better handled in a Nokia forum. Use the community as a font of knowledge and source of information. Wiki's are a great way for the community to come together and present this knowledge.

I am not sure you are going to get more than high level feedback on the UGs here. Most of the forum contributors are unlikely to have read the Guide exhaustively. Really the target audience is totally different.