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Think about the last time that you consulted a manual. Did you start at the beginning and read the whole manual? Probably not. You probably looked first at the index or the table of contents. Once you found the right page or topic, you probably scanned the page first to see if it contained the information you needed. This is how most people read manuals.
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No one wants to read your user manual. No one will read your user manual from front to back savoring every word and phrase. Technical documents are not novels. Readers want user manuals to answer their questions quickly so that they can get back to whatever they were doing.
A successful user manual provides users with quick answers to the questions that they might have about a particular product. Users searching for information don’t want to know about the latest and greatest features of a product. Users want to know how to complete tasks. Technical writing focuses on user tasks and the concepts that support the tasks.
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Below are some practical tips on writing user manuals that will help you to write content that adapts to the needs of users.
Think like a user
When writing a manual, you need to put on a “user’s hat” and think like a user. You should have a good understanding of your users so you can understand the information they need to know, their background, and their knowledge of the product. Once you think like a user, you can write content that the users need to know.
If you have the opportunity, you will find it very useful to watch users actually using the product. When you watch users interacting with the product, you will get a better idea of what the users need to do, how they approach each task, and when they might use approaches to tasks that are unexpected.
Use active voice
Active voice emphasizes the user and is easier to read and understand. In most cases, especially in user manuals, you should use active voice. In active voice, the subject and verb in the sentence are clear. In passive voice, the subject is unknown and is acted upon by something that is not known or not stated. Passive voice uses verbs that include a form of “to be”.
Compare the two sentences below.
Passive voice: Supplies that will be needed to complete this project include a hammer, a screwdriver, and a rubber mallet.
Active voice: To complete this project, you will need a hammer, a screwdriver, and a rubber mallet.
The sentence that uses active voice makes it clear that the reader is the person who will complete the action. By using the active voice, you will make your writing more clear, concise, and direct.
Focus on the reader
User manuals should always focus on the reader. When writing information that involves the reader, such as instructions, use “you” and the active voice. Speaking directly to the reader will:
- Reinforce the message that the information is intended for the reader
- Pull readers into the document and make it relevant to them
- Help to avoid passive voice by focusing on the reader
Compare the two sentences below.
Lack of reader focus: There are three options for viewing content in the editor.
Reader focus: You can choose from one of three options for viewing content in the editor.
The sentence that uses “you” focuses on the reader and makes it clear that the reader is the person doing the action. You should aim to use “you” in your writing to make the content more relevant to the reader.
Write clear instructions
The primary objective of user manuals is to help users complete tasks. Below are some guidelines to help you write clear and concise instructions.
- Use numbered lists for instructions unless the instruction includes a single step.
- Use parallel construction for each step. Usually, you should start each step with an imperative word, such as “Enter”, “Click”, “Select”, etc. When you start each step with an imperative word, you are providing the user with clear cues on the required action for each step.
- Avoid using a system response as a step. For example, don’t say, “The Info dialog window opens” as a step. You can incorporate system responses (when necessary) in the step that initiated the system response or you can mention the system response at the beginning of the following step, e.g. “In the Info dialog window, …”.
- Provide just enough information so that the user can complete a task or understand a concept. Omit any extraneous information that the user does not need to know. Concise content makes it easier to understand concepts and tasks.
Establish standards
When creating documentation, there will be areas where there may be more than one way to spell a word, refer to an object, caption graphics, punctuate sentences, lay out a page, and organize information. These are just a few of the decisions that writers must make when they create documents. By establishing standards, the writer’s job becomes much easier since most of those decisions will have been already made.
The Chicago Manual of Style and Microsoft Manual of Style are two popular style guides. If you use an established style guide, you may still need to establish some specific guidelines for your writing project. As you encounter any issues with styles, you can create your own additional style rules that address the specific needs of your project.
If you would like to become a technical writer, you may want to consider registering for our Professional Technical Writing Course. It is an online course where you will learn how to write and revise instructions, technical reports, and software manuals (key technical writing documents).
In a previous article, I went over 14 examples of documentation mistakes you might be making. Today, I'm going to show you 10 examples of what makes great end user documentation.
I should clarify that end user documentation does not serve the same purpose as technical documentation, so you shouldn't write them the same way. Technical documentation is meant to teach somebody everything there is to know about a subject, whereas end user documentation is meant to just show somebody the necessary steps to accomplish a task and answer 'How to...' questions.
The examples I show are examples of what makes great end user documentation.
1 - Write great titles
Great end user documentation consists of titles that are specific, and often in the form of performing a task. This not only makes it easier for your end users to find what they are looking for, but it helps you write better articles.
For example, think about how much time it would take to write an article titled 'Contacts' - you wouldn't know where to start. So you create an outline of all the 'Contacts' topics you can think of, take screenshots of the Contacts object, explain all of the menu options, and write a history of the Contacts object - all useless to an end user who just wants to know how to create a partner contact in Salesforce. Instead of going right to the information they need, end users will have to sift through all of the other stuff to find an answer.
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If each article has its own, great title, then your end users can quickly answer their own questions by performing a keyword search or by browsing through your table of contents.
HubSpot does a great job writing useful titles, and then demonstrating the workflow using pictures, text, and annotations. Their documentation is a great example of how to write end user/customer documentation.
Tip for writing great titles
To continue the example from above, instead of writing one big article titled 'Contacts' just write a dozen little articles that each answer one specific question:
- What is a contact?
- How do we use contacts?
- How to create customer contacts
- How to convert a lead into a contact
- How to create partner contacts
- How to create an account for a contact
- How to merge duplicate contacts
- How to import contacts from Outlook
- How to import contacts from a CSV file
- How to add contacts from Gmail using Cirrus
- How to change the Contacts view
- How to log a call with a contact
These are so much easier to write, and your end users will find them much more useful because they can quickly search for, and find, answers to their specific questions (end users need specifics). Plus, you can always combine a lot of little articles into a larger workflow and organize them into a chapter or a manual.
2 - Use annotated screenshots
The majority of end user documentation should have screenshots, and those screenshots should include some sort of annotation. Adding an arrow, a circle, or number sequences can make end user documentation completely dummy proof, and save end users from having to figure out what to do.
Even if it seems obvious to you where to click, including a few simple annotations will go a long way in removing confusion.
3 - Use video AND screenshots AND text
If you have the budget, the patience, and the time, you can do what Wistia does - create a video explanation, then include step-by-step instructions underneath the video.
This is a great way to do end user documentation. The video acts as a teacher to explain an overall process and provide some initial training. But after the initial training, end users don't need to watch the entire video again - they just need a quick reminder of what to do. The step-by-step instructions are great for the quick reminder.
4 - Include links to related articles
When you reference another action, product, workflow, or term, it always helps to include a link to the related article. Otherwise, end users waste time searching for what you just referenced.
5 - Easy to browse
if you only have 10-20 articles, then you don't really need to make them easy to browse. It's when you have over 20 or 30 articles that you really want to make a nice Table of Contents - especially if your documentation is online.
When your end users don't quite know what to search for, they can browse your documentation to find an answer. In this example, Metric Insights has organized their manuals into sections, and then each manual is broken up into chapters and articles.
6 - Easy to search
Google has spoiled everybody. When your end users know what they are looking for, they expect to be able to type in a keyword and find an answer. If your documentation isn't searchable, then it's not going to be used very often.
7 - Easy to find
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Below is an example of the ScreenSteps integration with Salesforce. It provides links to articles based on which Salesforce tab is open so end users don't have to go very far to find relevant documentation. Plus, it has a keyword search feature so end users can type in their question and search your ScreenSteps documentation for an answer.
The faster end users can answer their own questions, the less time you'll have to spend answering them yourself or showing them where the answers are.
8 - Show the end result
At the end of it all, what is the end user supposed to see? Here, Skuid does a nice job including a screenshot of the end result with a brief explanation to help end users determine whether everything was done correctly.
9 - Show the steps and substeps
Including step numbers makes it easy for end users to follow along and piece together what they are doing. You can also take advantage of sub-steps to make your documentation easier to follow.
10 - Unique URLs for each article
If you were to click on this URL - http://help.screensteps.com/m/salesforce/l/211489-add-contextual-help-and-search-in-salesforce you would be taken to the exact article you need to answer your question about how to create a campaign target list. This makes it really easy for you to respond to questions with links to your documentation. Otherwise, you have to say, 'Download this PDF, go to page 47, and on the 3rd paragraph you'll find an answer.'
With a unique URL, you can respond in Chatter, email, in the communities, etc. sending your end users to the exact answer they are looking for.
Why do any of this?
The goal of your end user documentation is to reduce the number of hours you spend explaining workflows, and reduce the number of hours end users spend looking for answers.
If you can remove hurdles your end users have to jump over in order to find answers, they will reference your documentation. And that will create self-sufficient end users who do the job correctly, in less time, and without constantly involving you.
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Note: HubSpot, Metric Insights, and Skuid all use ScreenSteps to write great end user documentation.