---
title: "A few things tech writers frequently say: Videos tedious, topics best when short, people just use Google, and more"
date: 2013-11-19
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $("
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2013/11/19/a-few-things-technical-writers-frequently-say/
---
# A few things tech writers frequently say: Videos tedious, topics best when short, people just use Google, and more
I gave a presentation at the STC Berkeley chapter last week. It was a lively group, and people had a lot of insightful things to say. Here are a few comments various participants made. I want to highlight these assertions because I hear them so frequently.

- Videos are too tedious to watch -- I'd rather have the text that I can go right to.

- Users only go to help to search for a specific answer, so they want a short topic rather than having to wade through a lot of content.

- My preferred way to get help is to have a friend right beside me to ask questions whenever I need it.

- If I do a search on Google, I'll find the content I'm looking for, but not when I use the application's search.

- Tech writers don't include more examples because they don't have the information to write examples.

## Reflecting a bit

I'd like to reflect on a few of these assertions, both agreeing and disagreeing to an extent.

**1. Videos are too tedious to watch -- I'd rather have the text that I can go right to.**

I hear frequently this comment from tech writers, though I believe it only reflects one user story or behavior.

Yesterday I was talking with one of our users, and I asked her what her favorite websites are to learn code. She said he likes [lynda.com](http://lynda.com) (a site focusing on video-based tutorials) when she's trying to get a general feel and orientation to the topic, but when trying to do a specific task, she prefers written instructions, because they allow her to move at her own pace and to go back and forth as needed.

I think her response sums up how a lot of people use help. When you're new to a topic and want the big picture, videos are great. They introduce you to the concepts and allow you to see how it works at a high level.

But when you're trying to assemble the nuts and bolts, videos may move too fast and gloss over some of the details that might be critical.

To balance video with written instructions, it's probably best to provide both formats, aligning the videos with introductory concepts and aligning written material with more advanced topics and tasks.