Your thumbnails look like you are making a nice, clean, professional looking set of instructions. I think that screenshots are a great way to illustrate your instructions since you are doing a software type set of instructions. The good thing about screenshots is that you can show every step along the way if you feel that it is needed. These screenshots will show exactly what is needed to be done because you are using the same method to do it as the people who are reading the instructions. You make good use of repetition and alignment to keep the overall appearance nice and neat.
Both of your thumbnails defiantly seem as though they will be able to present your instructions in a step by step manner. One suggestion would be to eliminate the white space above “Installing CentOS” on the Expert Guide. This seems like it is just wasted space and could be better utilized elsewhere. I also realize that this might have been caused in the process of converting your word document to a PDF file. Both of your sample graphics will be effective in showing the user what their screen should look like. While the situations of the pictures that you gave are not too complicated, I know that some in CentOS are. For these it might be beneficial to draw arrows or highlight areas in your screenshot that the novice user will be working with. Overall I think that you have laid the foundation for creating effective sets of instructions.
Submitted by Nathaniel on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 15:34.
I have a few comments and suggestions:
Your graphics seem to be well selected. They are also a little grainy (you might play with the resolution here).
Do you plan on supplementing your graphics with elements that will focus the user's attention (circles, arrows, highlights, etc.)?
It is unclear what the dimensions of your instruction sets will be. Right now, there is a lot of blank white space. Is it safe to assume that space will be excised for the actual, physical instruction set? If so, you can excise this text in Adobe.
It is hard to tell what qualitative differences exists between the thumbnails as they now stand. Both appear to be step-by-step instructions, with the beginner set containing a list of possibly necessary skills. This is not say there isn't such a difference, just that it isn't showing up in the design. You might check out Ben's thumbnails for an example to two similar yet distinct thumbnails for novice and expert audiences
Remember to focus on creating sets that differ in kind rather than degree.
Nice clean look.
Your thumbnails look like you are making a nice, clean, professional looking set of instructions. I think that screenshots are a great way to illustrate your instructions since you are doing a software type set of instructions. The good thing about screenshots is that you can show every step along the way if you feel that it is needed. These screenshots will show exactly what is needed to be done because you are using the same method to do it as the people who are reading the instructions. You make good use of repetition and alignment to keep the overall appearance nice and neat.
Feedback
Both of your thumbnails defiantly seem as though they will be able to present your instructions in a step by step manner. One suggestion would be to eliminate the white space above “Installing CentOS” on the Expert Guide. This seems like it is just wasted space and could be better utilized elsewhere. I also realize that this might have been caused in the process of converting your word document to a PDF file. Both of your sample graphics will be effective in showing the user what their screen should look like. While the situations of the pictures that you gave are not too complicated, I know that some in CentOS are. For these it might be beneficial to draw arrows or highlight areas in your screenshot that the novice user will be working with. Overall I think that you have laid the foundation for creating effective sets of instructions.
Graphics and Thumbnails instructor feedback: Jeff
I have a few comments and suggestions: