Act I
From: Larry Kunz
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 10:31 AM
To: Robin Bateman, Administrative Assistant
Subject: Coffee machine broken
Hi, Robin.
The coffee maker on the first floor is not working – it reports “error 360.” Can you have someone look at it, please?
This is the machine that brews the pouches.
Thanks,
Larry Kunz
Lead Technical Writer
Act II
From: Robin Bateman
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 11:35 AM
To: Susie Austen, Acme Coffee Co.
cc: Jack Wheeler, Senior Manager, Facilities
Subject: FW: Coffee machine broken
See Below…
Robin Bateman
[quoted text]
From: Larry Kunz
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 10:31 AM
To: Robin Bateman
Subject: Coffee machine broken
Hi, Robin.
The coffee maker on the first floor is not working – it reports “error 360.” Can you have someone look at it, please?
[end quoted text]
Act III
From: Jack Wheeler
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 12:13 PM
To: Robin Bateman; Larry Kunz; Susie Austen
Subject: RE: Coffee machine broken
Did you check to see if its just a jam? Code 360 is a Jam! Check when emptying the Container and see if any packets are stuck in the top or hanging in the machine!? Cmon!
Jack Wheeler
Act IV
From: Larry Kunz
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 12:25 PM
To: Jack Wheeler; Robin Bateman
Subject: RE: Coffee machine broken
It looks like someone down here figured it out – the machine is working OK now.
WIBNI if the display had said “clear the jam” rather than “call operator – error 360.”
Anyway, all’s well that ends well. And now I know what error 360 means.
Larry Kunz
Lead Technical Writer
Act V
From: Jack Wheeler
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 8:57 AM
To: Robin Bateman
Cc: Larry Kunz
Subject: RE: Coffee machine broken
Robin;
Please make a laminated sign for each of the Acme Barista Coffee Makers (3 total) indicating the following:
“Code 360 = Jammed pouch in the collection tub”!
Remove tub, empty,
Return tub and system will reset.
Thank you.
Jack Wheeler
Epilog
So another poorly-designed user experience was vanquished — papered over with documentation. And the people rejoiced, because they had their coffee again.
Yet darkness remained over the land.
Exeunt omnes
Leading Technical Communication 
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Thanks, Ray. That made me smile and cry at the same time.
Hi, Larry. Enjoyed this piece. Clever! (You’ll probably want to swap in “Exeunt.”) Thanks for the smile. Happy holidays to you and Hillary.
Marcia
>
Thanks, Marcia, for the holiday wishes and for catching the misspelling (now fixed).
OK, so I had to look up “WIBNI,” which then points to another typo “Wouldn’t it be nice if if…” 😉 But my real question is what other mysterious coffee codes will require laminated signs in the future??? Happy holidays, Larry!
If and only if. Yeah, that’s the ticket. 😉
Thanks, Mike. And, yes, I dread the day when the coffee machine is impossible to use because of all the laminated signs in the way.
Our office coffeemaker (brand withheld) spills if the pods are put in upside down. After several calls to a plumber we collectively realized the problem, and the admin put up a sign to put the pods in correctly or there’ll be a spill. I ended up writing “(label side down)” on the sign to complete the documentation. I think that’s done the trick.
(Not sure what the tech comm lesson is here. Maybe it’s that I’ve had too much coffee.)
No, that’s not the lesson. “Too much coffee” and “techcomm” cannot exist in the same sentence. Thanks, Steve.