When writing FAQs, I have encountered lots of situations in which a question can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" (plus some descriptive text as to why it is as it is). Personally, I usually just wrote the description, leaving the exact interpretation to the user. However, I am seeing more and more examples of people who write out "yes" or "no" at the very beginning:
Q: Can I do ___ with your product?
A: Yes! Our product offers ... etc. and so on.
I don't really like that style, because when reading something, I put emphasis on the details, which most of the time are not a white or black, but some shade of grey in between. However, I want to know if this style is better from a user-perspective (regarding your average user, for example in order to get an answer quickly without reading the long text or having to understand all that small stuff).
What do you think?
From a user point of view "Yes" or "no" is much better as it is the shortest answer to their question, also, if you have that " shade of grey in between ". Users tend to loose interest very quickly if they do not find this "yes" or "no". They do not like to search and easily get frustrated.
You can go for maybe or depends if you want to have a tldr; at the beginning for the grey answers.
TheSheriff
Co-Founder, Founder, Entrepreneur & Problem Solver
Information density.
If they're going to the FAQ they just want the quickest answer to their question.