Documentation is more than just lacking, much of it is useless
Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 4:48 am
I say useless because even when topics and features are documented, they are written in such a blase manner as if they expect everyone to be a CCTV expert. I posted the following on a thread asking about any 'real' manual other than the help screens and someones suggestion to check out one from Amcrest. It explains my topic header.
There is no version 5 manual with the exception of a .pdf offered at an Amcrest site that, unfortunately, is nothing more than the program help file converted to a downloadable .pdf. I've never use ver 4 and am new to CCTV software systems even though I have 40 years in IT - just never security cams. Anyway, their documentation can be described in ones word, 'sucks.' I've let them know what I think, but in no way do I think that will change anything. Since these systems are not in my skillset I need all the help I can get. I paid for priority support and intend to use the crap out of it to make up for the shortcomings in the documentation. It is most certainly not written for the novice, and I'd be he hard pressed to believe that a comfortable user would get what they needed easily. So much of the documentation uses phrases similar to, 'That is discussed further on... later section...' and then when you get there you are disappointed. Many fields are not even addressed. What is this checkbox or text field for? Never referenced. Things like the list of actions that can be taken when a specific camera is triggered are not detailed in any way. For instance, when a camera is triggered you can select,'Outdoor Mode.' What is outdoor mode? No other mention anywhere and this is simply one of many examples. Don't get me wrong, I like the feature set Blue Iris has to offer and according to many reviews it's 'da bomb.' However, in all my years in software development I always told a new gig - I was a consultant - that I didn't know everything right to do, but I sure can tell you some of the things not to do. One of those is trying to be all things to all people. You usually end up over-engineering and working on features and use cases that are rarely, if ever, used by the vast majority of your customer base. Microsoft Word is a great example. There are many features in Word that maybe 1% of the user base would ever use. Do they add value to the product. I guess, for the 1%. What if instead of spending money on implementing those features that have no value to 99% of your users you spent it on excellent documentation, how-to videos, training material, etc.
BLUE IRIS ARE YOU LISTENING?
There is no version 5 manual with the exception of a .pdf offered at an Amcrest site that, unfortunately, is nothing more than the program help file converted to a downloadable .pdf. I've never use ver 4 and am new to CCTV software systems even though I have 40 years in IT - just never security cams. Anyway, their documentation can be described in ones word, 'sucks.' I've let them know what I think, but in no way do I think that will change anything. Since these systems are not in my skillset I need all the help I can get. I paid for priority support and intend to use the crap out of it to make up for the shortcomings in the documentation. It is most certainly not written for the novice, and I'd be he hard pressed to believe that a comfortable user would get what they needed easily. So much of the documentation uses phrases similar to, 'That is discussed further on... later section...' and then when you get there you are disappointed. Many fields are not even addressed. What is this checkbox or text field for? Never referenced. Things like the list of actions that can be taken when a specific camera is triggered are not detailed in any way. For instance, when a camera is triggered you can select,'Outdoor Mode.' What is outdoor mode? No other mention anywhere and this is simply one of many examples. Don't get me wrong, I like the feature set Blue Iris has to offer and according to many reviews it's 'da bomb.' However, in all my years in software development I always told a new gig - I was a consultant - that I didn't know everything right to do, but I sure can tell you some of the things not to do. One of those is trying to be all things to all people. You usually end up over-engineering and working on features and use cases that are rarely, if ever, used by the vast majority of your customer base. Microsoft Word is a great example. There are many features in Word that maybe 1% of the user base would ever use. Do they add value to the product. I guess, for the 1%. What if instead of spending money on implementing those features that have no value to 99% of your users you spent it on excellent documentation, how-to videos, training material, etc.
BLUE IRIS ARE YOU LISTENING?
