User documentation is all too often written by programmers for programmers. It tends to focus on the product's features, rather than the user's tasks. Generally, programmers aren't in the ideal position to be writing user documentation. They're too close to the bits and bytes, and they're too far from the user. To them, what the product can do tends to be far more important than what the user can do with the product.
It's a subtle ? but vital ? distinction. Research shows that the key to effective user documentation is writing task oriented help. Even better, write your help according to the minimalist theory. In the documentation world, "minimalism" is a fancy word for a commonsense practice. In basic terms, it means write to your reader and keep it simple.
The theory itself has a lot of twists and turns. If you want to read a great ? but slightly wordy ? book on the subject, check out the book "Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel", 1998, edited by John Carroll.
In the meantime, if you can tick every item in the following checklist, you'll be well on your way to usable online help that both your readers and your managers will thank you for.
Helpful Help Checklist
1. Base the help on real tasks (or realistic examples)
2. Structure the help based on task sequence ? Chapter headings should be goals and topics should be tasks
3. Respect the reader's activity ? this is generally more about what you don't do than what you do. Don't waste the reader's time by diving off into tangents
4. Exploit prior knowledge and experience ? Draw the reader's attention to previous tasks, experiences, successes, and failures
5. Prevent mistakes - "Ensure you do x before doing y"
6. Detect and identify mistakes - "If this fails, you may have entered the path incorrectly"
7. Fix mistakes - "Re-enter the path"
8. Provide error info at end of tasks where necessary (rule of thumb, one error info note per three tasks is a good average)
9. Don't break up instructions with notes, cautions, warnings, and exceptional cases - Put these things at the end of the instruction, wherever possible
10. Be brief, don't spell everything out, especially things that can be taken for granted
11. Omit conceptual and note information where possible, or link to it. Perhaps provide expansion information at the end of the topic, plus maybe a note that there are other ways to perform the task/goal, but this is the easiest
12. Sections should look short and read short
13. Provide closure for sections (e.g., back to original screen/goal)
14. Provide an immediate opportunity to act and encourage exploration and innovation (use active invitations to act, such as, "See for yourself..." or "Try this..." rather than passive invitations such as, "You can...")
15. Get users started quickly
16. Allow for reading in any order - make each section modular, especially goals, but perhaps tasks (definitely if they can be performed in different order)
17. Highlight things that are not typical
18. Use active voice rather than passive voice
19. Try to account for the user's environment in your writing
20. Before writing anything, ask yourself "Will this help my reader?"
By building these practices into your documentation process, you'll find that your online help becomes easier to write, shorter, and far more usable for your reader. What's more, your boss will love you!
About The Author
* Glenn Murray is an seo copywriter and seo copywriter. He is a director of seo copywriter and also of copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at seo copywriter. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com or http://www.publishhub.com for further details, more FREE articles, or to purchase his e-book, 'SEO Secrets'.
taxi o'hare Wisconsin Dells ..What am I supposed to give Anthony as a wedding... Read More
The Scanning ReaderWriting for the Web is different than writing... Read More
Griselda spent hours polishing up her resume. No detail was... Read More
Why should you consider creating a memoir of your personal... Read More
Have you ever considered writing a book? If so, maybe... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?By now you should have an idea... Read More
Becoming an author is probably a lot easier than you... Read More
I???ve spoken to hundreds of editors, employers, and project managers... Read More
Have you heard the term 'ghostwriter' and wondered what they... Read More
Once you've plotted out your book, developed the characters and... Read More
You know, I really hate it when someone catches me... Read More
Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury,England in 1965.... Read More
Chances are, you'll be busy over the next several weeks.... Read More
Obtaining the skills for writing good business correpondence is important;... Read More
Is it possible to improve your writing instantly? The answer,... Read More
Think of writing like karate...it's about DISCIPLINE.Writing, like other forms... Read More
You can make a lot of money by writing and... Read More
If Ben Franklin were alive today, he would be...uh, very... Read More
Mix a martini, don't forget the olives, or pour yourself... Read More
ESSAY 2Andre Malraux once said that what interested him in... Read More
We writers are a powerful lot. We control time. We... Read More
Choosing the wrong words can have a poor effect on... Read More
Rudolph Flesch, a pioneering advocate of readability, put great stock... Read More
Over the past eight years or so, I have tutored... Read More
Arrogance has a bad rap. We think of arrogant people... Read More
bmw rental chicago Ackley ..Have you ever read someone else's writing and thought one... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?Our plotting stage is our testing area.Everything... Read More
Mindmapping is better than linear outlining because authors can use... Read More
You must write a hypnotic persuasion letter to help you... Read More
Productivity begins by recognizing and valuing your brilliance, time, and... Read More
The short-short story has been likened by some as being... Read More
When one population in one century survived five wars, two... Read More
ESSAY 2Andre Malraux once said that what interested him in... Read More
The Scanning ReaderWriting for the Web is different than writing... Read More
Sometimes there is confusion about the exact meaning of the... Read More
ACCEPT, EXCEPT Not commonly seen even from unpublished writers, who... Read More
Started a book and then got bogged down? Like many... Read More
What's the best way to plot?Quick answer: the best way... Read More
This article contains a short guide on how to edit... Read More
Calling all publishers, editors, journalists and freelance writers. It's time... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?I have said above that if a... Read More
Taming the Book Proposal: The BasicsOh, that most maddening of... Read More
When we write stories, with the purpose of sharing them... Read More
There are various forms of structure, including frameworks, work processes... Read More
The following rules are essential if you want people to... Read More
Technology vendors often contribute bylined articles to trade journals. The... Read More
The principle for writing good screenplays begins with good idea... Read More
You have a new website, or a new business, or... Read More
User documentation is all too often written by programmers for... Read More
Summer's here and the time is write for dancing in... Read More
Writing |