Task-based documentation

I'm packing up for the WritersUA Conference with great anticipation. It's a bit of a busman's holiday for me. Lately I've been immersed in the technical aspects of what I was writing about, so it's a pleasure to step back from that and think about the art of user assistance in general.

If you didn't know, one of the key mantras in user assistance is task-based. One of those well-meaning phrases that seems to become fuzzier the more it's repeated. The literal-minded translate it to "the steps of the task", and I can tell when I'm looking something up in documentation if it was written by someone from that camp -- I'm told what to do, but given little or no information about why I would want to do it or what my other options are or how to make the decisions inherent in the steps.

I think I've found that to be the greatest disconnect in documentation for me, as a user. Instructions are plentiful...but too often they assume you already know what you want to do (i.e., the specific tasks that accomplish your ultimate objective).

Good article on the topic: "Help Is Dead. Long Live Help!"