Equipment User Manual Technical Writing Yasir Jan College of EME

User manual Writing a user manual is an often overlooked stage in product development. There are technical communicators and writers whose specific job is to create user manuals. However, many companies forego hiring such writers and force product engineers to write manuals. Although it can be difficult to write an effective user manual, there are a few steps you can take to write a basic user manual.

Basic questions to answer 1. What is it for? Explain the machine. 2. Buttons 3. Now make a how does it work for dummies, start explaining how you turn it on and off, exactly what button is it for what function, 4. Messages that the machine will make, like what does it mean when the red button is turned on. 5.Troubleshoot 6. Others.

Instructions for writing Step 1: Understand the product you are writing the manual for. It is important to use the product as much as possible and write down your first impressions as you are using it. It is especially important to write down things that are difficult to do with the product. Step 2: Analyze your audience. This may the single most important step in creating a user manual. You want to know who will be reading and using your document. Analyze traits such as prior knowledge, age and familiarity with the product. Step 3: Write an outline of the most vital processes involved in using the product. These processes will be the ones you want to document. It is impossible to document every scenario, so choose the ones that are most important to the end-user. Step 4: Document the processes with the product in front of you. Test your instructions to make sure that they work and make sense. Step 5:Test your manual for usability. Try to find as many end-users of the product as possible and ask them to walk through various processes that you have documented in your user manual. Step 6:Make any necessary edits based on your usability testing. The end- user is "king" in the manual-creation process. If there is a consensus among users to change the wording, make the changes

Make manual for user, not for the tool The way most cameras are marketed is by showing all the incredible and beautiful photography that you can take with the camera. People want to be able to do that, so boom! they buy it. Then they get the manual. The manual is all about how to use the camera, but there isn't a thing in it about how to take fantastic and amazing pictures. People get bored with the minute details and so they learn a few of the options and then settle for that. They end up taking pictures with heads cut off, poor lighting, etc. and soon the camera only comes out for birthday parties and special occasions, which is definitely not how the camera makers intended it to be used. You need to have instructions on how to use it, but incorporate those instructions with practical and fun uses for your application and you'll find a higher adoption and usage rate. Focus on what problems your app is solving for the user in the first place and make sure that you follow through on showing them how to do that

Manuals should focus on Audience (technicians, clients, users) Purpose (Basic operation, training) Introduction to equipment Steps to follow, in detail Troubleshooting Safety tips

Suggestions Examine, how someone else is using the application. Especially someone, who doesn't know it yet. Include a 'quick start' guide and a more in-depth step-by-step tutorial. Don't use the terms you use as a developer, try to find the terminology of the user. Include screenshots. Put arrows and circles in the screenshot, to highlight the function you want to explain. Explain simple features in a matrix. Explain step-by-step scenarios for what the user may do. Provide screencasts for explaining processes. Use a wiki. Include documentation for processes that happen not very often. This are processes, the user may have difficulties. Include a trouble-shooting-guide. Test your quick-start-guide on a clean box with a fresh install. Nothing is more annoying, as the simple example isn't working. Include all necessary information in the section there it is needed. Repeat the information if needed. Explain why this function exists and not only what it does. Focus on problems and how they can solved, not on functions. Show examples of cool stuff that can be done with your software and explain the way how to do it.

Easy to understand Include contents and an index. Use images where appropriate. Break up large chunks of text. Use hyperlinks. Include a 'quick start' guide and a more in-depth step-by- step tutorial. Only use terminology user will understand. For example, most users have no idea what you mean by "Dialog", use "Window" instead. Include a glossary, if necessary Explain why I would want to click the “foo” button. I was looking at an option on my router yesterday and I didn't know what it meant. I looked at the help but it basically said "click this button to enable foo", without telling me what foo was

Why manual is boring than the brochure?

Proper utilizing system I have found that writing manuals in an order where they walk the user through the processes/functionality are the best. SO you are walking them through, do A, click X, etc, but the key is that along the way you explain the what, why, how, and when behind their actions. Doing this will give them the insight on how to properly use the system “Don’t make me think” much

Screenshots As you work, take a screenshot of the software at each significant point to show the user how to perform the task. The end user experience level dictates what screenshots to take. For less a less experienced user, e.g. a first-year university student, create a screenshot for each step of the task, which shows the state of the software at that point. Create instructions that focus on specific actions, e.g. “click the Save button”. For experienced users, create screenshots of each important screen, and add instructions for how to use the entire screen. Because a user will gain experience as they use the software, you may need to create a user manual at a different level of complexity for less frequently used parts of the software.

Help from other manual In the end, you can find other well written manual and use it as a guideline

References Contents taken from various web sources