USER DOCUMENTATION (Part of the development phase of the PSM) Mark Kelly

Who needs documentation? Anyone affected by the new system – Users within the organisation – Management – Technicians – Customers – Corporate partners

Formats Printed - e.g. books, leaflets, posters expensive, costly to ship, slow to update, colour is very costly, easily damaged, hard to copy. Can be read anywhere and any time without technology, can annotate it easily (with a pen)

Formats Electronic e.g. website, CD/DVD, animation, slideshow, Windows help file Quickly updated, free colour, excellent navigation with links & electronic search, animation, multimedia, holds huge quantities of information (except in animations and slideshows) Requires technology, electricity, bandwidth, tech skills

Typical Types You need to know these – Quick-start guide = how to carry out basic, common tasks – User manual = how to carry out every action – Tutorial = explanation, demonstrations, examples, exercises to learn through practice – Content-sensitive help = offers help relevant to your current activities

Quick start guide

User manual

Tutorial

Typical Types – Installation guide = a small booklet or single-page leaflet – Technical reference = for technicians – Quick reference – memory-jogging summary of information people often forget

Managers Need an overview of the system’s requirements for staffing, equipment, time, expense etc Need to know enough to support the system and its users

Customers If customers are expected to use the system (e.g. catalogue search system in a library, bank ATMs) they need basic documentation to tell them how to use it Documentation should be easy to understand, basic, brief

Corporate Partners Most businesses exchange data with other organisations Those organisations need to know how a new system affects them E.g. a writer uses a word processor and sends documents to a printer. The printer needs to know how to open and format the documents.

Technicians Need full details about using, fixing, fine- tuning, trouble-shooting, or extending the system Need gory details that other users don’t want or need

By Mark Kelly vceit.com These slideshows may be freely used, modified or distributed by teachers and students anywhere on the planet (but not elsewhere). They may NOT be sold. They must NOT be redistributed if you modify them. IT APPLICATIONS SLIDESHOWS