: Re: How can I express this fragment more clearly and concisely? For the 'who is this application for' section of an application user guide, I have the following alternatives, I'm not happy with

@Turnbaugh521

Vote Up Vote Down

Try something like this:

This application is for users of (ESP) who need to understand its results quickly and easily. (Product) takes the metrics compiled by (ESP) and presents them in a way that makes troubleshooting and documentation easier. (Product) produces reports for (business function A), (business function B), ... .

Rationale:

First, explain how it fits in with the context they already know. Then tell them how your product fits into that world; they (presumably) know the pain of dealing with (ESP), but they've never heard of you. Focus on what your product does for them, rather than who they are; if you say, for example, that a product is for users of type X, then users of type Y who also need to do that thing may not realize you can help them. But everybody has some idea of the problem he's trying to solve. (Well, usually. We hope. :-) )

Depending on your house style, you might want to list the business functions your product addresses in a bulleted list instead of in running text like above. This helps people who are skimming. Think about the last set of product specs you read (online, on a physical package, or whatever); it was probably a list, wasn't it? It was designed to make you quickly realize "I need this"; so too is this section of your document.

(0)

Login to post a comment!