At GOV.UK we do a lot of user research, and find bullet points to be very successful in drawing affection to and clearly conveying lists of things. For example requirements.
I'm assuming from context that you're referring to lists of very specific, well-known things, such as documents someone might need to bring to an office (form 232, id card, etc.). That's a very specific use case where a checklist is actually the most appropriate device.
Tufte's work is about conveying complex information. The proscription against bullet points is rooted in the fact that most information cannot be effectively written in that manner - only if there is already an unambiguous name for everything in the list will the bullet points be sufficient.
The writing style that favors frequent use of bulleted lists instead of full-sentence descriptions to represent complex ideas leads to small thinking.
Can I just say thank you, for the splendid work you do over there. I steal from your ideas liberally, whenever I want something clearly designed and written.
