Written manual

His work has influenced design for the US, European and Asian markets, for everything from banking software and medical devices to store displays, packaging and even baby care products. More details. This article is tagged layout , navigation , user manual. See all videos. Join our community of UX professionals who get their user experience training from Userfocus. See our curriculum. The Usability Training Centre is a trading name of Userfocus limited.

We can tailor our user research and design courses to address the specific issues facing your development team. Users don't always know what they want and their opinions can be unreliable — so we help you get behind your users' behaviour. Comment, share or save this article opens a new browser window. Photo by Fernando Venzano on Unsplash. About the author. If you liked this, try… Help! What The Beatles can teach us about writing support material 37 usability guidelines for help, feedback and error tolerance 23 writing and content quality usability guidelines Red route usability Usability Test Moderation: The Comic See all usability articles and resources.

Make sure that the instruction manual is in a smooth flow and covers all and in-depth processes from start to finish. Organizing the information is important to avoid confusion amongst the readers and make it an easy read for them. Now that you have everything outlined and organized with a clear structure in mind, the next step would be to start writing! Always keep in mind that the primary purpose of user manuals is to help users complete tasks and solve problems. Thus, giving clear, to-the-point instructions help your customers get up to speed with your product or solve their issues with it quickly.

Always using numbered lists for instructions and keeping the content concise are some great practices for writing a good manual. Adding a table of contents to your instruction manual is a must. If your instruction manual is heavy on pages, the importance of having a table of contents increases exponentially. The table of content provides navigation to the reader and helps them go to a particular topic quickly. Since customers are not looking to read your manual from start to finish and are just looking to solve a particular problem or learn about a topic, adding a table of contents helps them save time and effort.

Using a document editor that automatically creates a table of contents around headings and subheadings is a great way to go about it. Instruction manuals are well, boring. They are filled with text and are not very engaging. On top of that, visuals are processed 60, times faster in the brain than text. Making your online manual interactive with how-to videos and audio instructions can be a great way to enhance engagement and help customers or clients effectively.

Keep on reading! Therefore, always ask employees, especially those who are unfamiliar with the product or have not worked with you in creating the instruction manual, to give their honest feedback and suggestions on how to make it more effective. Steps Included. After learning about all the key points to include in your instruction manuals, we know you are itching to get on with the work of creating one.

This is why we would like to introduce you to Bit, the smartest document collaboration tool to create instruction manuals and other digital workplace documents for free! Bit is a new age cloud-based document collaboration tool that helps teams create, manage and track workplace documents including-. Bit helps you make sure your instruction manuals are more than just plain boring text and images.

View online. The manual can also be downloaded to your device for offline use, if you prefer. Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles "These practice driving skills exams make studying easier and less stressful.

Kansas Department of Transportation "First-time driver or need a refresher course? More than a Driver's Ed program Training America's next-generation drivers. Based on Official Manual. Exam Simulators. All License Types. Like these user guides and online help? And finally, how to create an instruction manual , like this one: Then read on.

Watch this video to see if you can publish your user manual online. Serve information needs by gaining knowledge about your user The first thing you may want to do on your way to provide users with the right content is to get to know both the subject and user better.

Ask yourself questions like: What describes the user? What is their age, gender etc.? What tasks do they need to perform? Why is the task being carried out? How frequently will it be carried out? In what environment will the product be used? What language do they speak? Is the user under stress? What is their background? Is the product used professionally, commercially or privately? What technical experiences, qualifications, education, training, knowledge or skills do they have?

Does the user have access to the internet? Why is this important? To create a persona: Ask yourself the correct questions to identify and get to know the user. Find images online or in magazines that represent the user, their hobbies, the environment, their skills etc. Use a photo editing tool or old-school scissors and paper to create a collage representing your user.

Write an introduction in your user manual that describes the user. For example: These instructions are intended for the end-user of the [machinery name].

Persona of the user for the IsoVox recording studio Gaining knowledge about your users helps you to focus on what is important to them. Have technical knowledge, but not too much This may seem like common sense, but knowledge really is the key to writing instructions that really help your users. So, technical people may not always be the right persons to engage customers. Both too little and too much technical knowledge can have their disadvantages. Useful questions are: What is the intended use?

What are the names of the most important parts? How is the product delivered to the end-user? How do I transport and store the product? How do I use the product? How do I change the settings? How do I maintain the product? How do I repair the product? What are the possible errors and how do I solve them?

How do I dismantle and dispose of the product? Are there any spare parts available? What are the technical specifications? What risks do I encounter during the stages of the product life cycle? When studying existing material, you will most likely find similarities and differences. So what exactly is a subject-matter expert?

Some tips when interviewing your SMEs: Make sure to do your homework well. Problems are very specific, such as: How do I attach the feet to my microwave? How do I replace the mould of my machinery? What does the red flashing LED light mean?

Am I allowed to clean the housing of my product with a detergent? So the main problem would be: How do I make the Roof Washer ready for use? How do you process and organise all this? A few methods and tools that can help you: Create the table of contents on the go; Use mind mapping ; Use information mapping techniques; Use old-school post-its.

Example of a mindmap All methods are based on the following principles: Break up all relevant information into small and manageable chunks; Each information chunk should be limited to a single topic; Label each information chunk in such a way that it identifies its contents, meaning that the description that you come up with should describe the content.

Organise and structure information, while making sure you are consistent in organising, formatting and sequencing information and be consistent in the use of terminology. Again, you are automatically further defining your topics here. User Manual A user manual or instruction manual is one type of information product. The user manual, installation manual and quick start guide of a product Topic User manuals are structured around topics. Topics need to be grouped logically.

Instructions If a topic is complex, it may contain several chunks, indicated as instructions in the above information type model. Steps A step is a detailed description within an instruction. Illustrations contribute to a better understanding of what needs to be done. This is the magical number of objects an average human can hold in short-term memory Miller, If necessary, a step can be enhanced with embedded safety warnings, tips with a more detailed description on how to perform the step or error recognition in case a step is done wrongly.

When I apply this model to the process of creating user instructions, it would look like the following: Organise your topics for the sake of easy navigation I would like to talk a bit more about the importance of your table of contents and thus the way you organise your topics in the instruction manual The table of contents ToC should be incredibly carefully crafted. Why does the ToC play such an important role?

Example of a default table of contents When I think all is completed, I add my product specific topics to the default ToC, organise them and finalise my table of contents. Engage your audience by avoiding jargon in your instruction manual Instruction manuals written by technical people tend to contain huge amounts of jargon.

What is jargon? Help your user to find what they are looking for by meaningful headings A heading is a title at the head of a page or section of a book.

This example shows a heading that clearly covers the content. Have a look at these examples: Notice that the phrasing of headings is consistent: The first-level heading covers what the entire chapter is all about. Although this is not the only right way to format them, I will give a style example here: Make first-levels all-caps; Make second-levels title-style caps: init-cap only the first word and any proper nouns and verbs; Make third-levels sentence-style caps: init-cap only the first word.

Using an automatic gateway to move persons children standing on it when it is opening or closing Example of the reasonably foreseeable misuse of a helicopter platform When you pay no or too little attention to the description of the reasonably foreseeable misuse, it may affect your liability as well. Reasonably foreseeable misuse or unforeseeable misuse? Support clarity with clear understandable user manuals As discussed previously, an instruction manual consists of various kinds of information that serve a specific purpose, called information types.

Which information types can YOU distinguish here? Writing instructions: Provide an immediate opportunity to act to get stuff done You can provoke action by giving less conceptual information and focus on giving procedures: users want to get stuff done and not read about it.

There is this interesting paradox: The best way to learn is to act. Look at this example based on the principles of minimalism , that contains this balance: Or this minimalist example In much conventional user documentation, not much priority is given to supporting actions a user needs to perform at the beginning of the instruction manual.

Also, within one sentence, you should follow the right order. To select German as your default language, select Deutsch when clicking on Language in the File menu Select Deutsch. Pretty straight forward, right?

Use the active voice to write easier to understand steps Make sure that the information you give is as simple and as brief as possible. The subject and verb are always clear in sentences with an active voice. Or you can mention the response at the beginning of the following step. The language window opens. In the language menu , select Deutsch.

Click SAVE. Minimise cross-references to prevent confusion Every now and then you might want to add cross references to your instructions. Example of a cross reference to the entire section Safety Information In general, cross-references should be kept to a minimum.

Referring to a sequence of steps, like in the example below, is not recommended. Charge the battery. See 2. How to Charge the Battery. Force to consider details by using a style guide I have emphasised the importance of consistency several times already, but I will mention it again here: it is crucial to express terms, product elements and units in a consistent manner.

A style guide enhances comprehensibility. Ensure safety by using words like must, shall, should and could correctly The correct use of words to indicate requirements and recommendations is standardised in the American ANSI Z Include error handling to save your user time, reduce frustration and anxiety No matter how well a product or piece of software has been designed, things undoubtedly go wrong when using it. But how do you know which error information to include?

When you have found the most common errors that occur, a model for adding problem-solving information to your user manual suggests the following stages: Seeing the problem; Expressing the problem; Processing the problem-solving information. Additionally, good error management makes learning to use a product more productive.

I discuss this in more detail in this podcast : Pay attention to the safety instructions and support safe use Safety is my favourite topic. There is a solution to this that meets in the middle! First I would like to explain why we include warnings in user manuals.

It is generally agreed in international standards that there are three ways to reduce those risks: You can adjust the design of your product, equip the product or user with safety measures such as safeguards, personal protective equipment or provide safety instructions. As a rule of thumb you should warn where the risk is most likely to occur. As the name suggests, section safety messages are placed at the beginning of a specific section.

When it comes to usability, you can do two things here. First of all, you could sum up all safety warnings that relate to that specific section. A more user-friendly approach would be: I am not saying not to use any warnings at all, but it definitely is possible to reduce the number of warnings drastically in many cases. A good warning consists of three parts: The type and source of hazard; The consequences in the event of non-compliance; Measures to avoid the hazard.

A warning is preceded by the signal word danger, warning, caution or notice. WARNING Signal word used to indicate a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury Indicates a hazardous situation that, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury. CAUTION Signal word used to indicate a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in minor or moderate injury Indicates a hazardous situation that, if not avoided, could result in minor or moderate injury.

Avoid legal pitfalls and make your instruction manual legally compliant Depending on the product you are writing for, chances are there are legal requirements on the content, presentation and format of your user guides. These videos explain excatly how to create a compliant manual for electrical equipment How to use the Operator Manual Template for to create a machinery manual: And for medical devices TO THE STORE Add navigation to optimise your user guide for findability An essential part of a clear user manual is the way your user can navigate to the information they are looking for.

The order of the topics largely determines how quick users find what they are looking for. Another way of guiding your user to the right information is by including an index or glossary An index is an alphabetical list of names, key words, product elements, life cycle stages etc.

Make sure that the index includes synonyms that are most likely used. Example of an index A glossary is an alphabetical list of words relating to the specific subject you are writing about, with explanations.

Example of a glossary Another glossary example Review your user manual to get rid of errors, pt. Use their feedback to optimise the instruction manual. All of these serve a different purpose. Use illustrations to enhance text You can use line illustrations to support, replace or augment text and to present a chronological sequence of a process or steps to be followed.

Illustrations to describe a sequence of steps When you place illustrations as close as possible to the text to which they relate, it is clear to which textual instruction they belong. Illustration that identifies main product parts Sometimes photos are used instead of illustrations. Use of a photo in a user manual that our client created Use of an illustration in the new instruction manual the we created When creating illustrations, you can leave out irrelevant information or easily emphasise important information.

Screenshot with an overview of main functionalities Explanation of the use of an app in a user guide Use tables to organise data You can use tables to organise numeric or verbal data. Technical data presented in a table Consider using video instead of illustrations Video or animation can serve many purposes.

Example of a realistic video tutorial Example of a 3D animation Example of an explainer video in cartoon style When using video, synchronised spoken or written text, or both, can be used to accompany the sequences.

Use interactive animations to increase effectiveness and efficiency Another increasingly important form of animation, is interactive animation. Example of an online interactive animation according to minimalism principles Keep in mind that, as video might require a stable internet connection, it is less suitable in areas with bad reception. Use symbols if you want to communicate language-independently Symbols, icons and safety signs are often used in instruction manuals. They are characterised by having a predefined and clearly identifiable meaning and are used to transmit information independently of language.

This meaning is created by a combination of colour and geometric shape. Many symbols, icons and signs have been standardised. Examples of clear icons according to ISO Icons can be used to represent objects or functions.

User experience is HOT! As you can imagine, someone who is visually impaired might benefit from a larger font size. Make purposeful and effective use of colour. Provide lots of white space. Bold font used to indicate the product elements.

Italics used to indicate other sections. Font weight can be used sparingly to denote importance. Ensure high text-to-background contrast.

Black text on a white background works best. Use colour coding consistently and apply standards, if applicable. Use consistent layout from page to page. For easy of distribution, these instructions are provided in 24 languages CHAPTER 5 - How to Finalise and Distribute Your User Manual I have now developed the content in chapter 2 texts and 3 visuals and the form in chapter 4, so it is time to finalise the user guide. You can outsource this, which is what I would suggest you do, or you can do it yourself.

This is called cognitive blindness. Most professional translation agencies offer proofreading services. Your user manual might need to be translated into the language of your target audience.

Tools like Word and InDesign are the most used user manual alternatives. Examples of print user manual Examples of an online software user manual Once you have finished and published your instructions, or maybe one step earlier, a usability test helps you to check if your users understand what you have assumed and written.

Colour-coding also helps to aid navigation, When using colour or contrast, make sure you consider the needs of disabled users, such as users with low vision or who are colour-blind. Conclusion Well, there is a lot to say about how to write a user manual.

When you really want to create awesome instructions, you will need to practice a lot.