Write computer program user manual

So, Philip has just created the sub- titles for his topics. I asked Philip to redirect his headings and to take notice of the following general guidelines: Use the structure as shown above for the first, second and third level heading. Make sure the headings are self-explanatory. Make sure that the heading covers the full topic. If the section covers the maintenance and repair of a product, the heading Maintenance would be incomplete. If possible, try to omit articles at the beginning of headings Action: Write new headings for your ToC entries.

Step 6 Determine the Legal Content Dependent on the market where your product is placed in or put into service, and dependent on the product group your product belongs to, specific legislation applies to your product. How to Create Compliant Manuals for the EU How to Create Compliant Manuals for the US Philip didn't need to conduct these steps, as the template he used already contained the legal content as required by the relevant directives.

The user manual should describe the intended use of the product. The user manual should describe the reasonably foreseen unintended use of the product. If applicable, non-compliance in residential areas should be mentioned. If the product is too small this can be placed in the user manual.

The name, registered trade name or registered trademark and the postal address should be mentioned on the product. A risk analysis should be conducted to determine the residual risks related to the use of the product. Safety information shall be provided in order to inform the user of measures to be taken. WEEE information shall be included Information on packaging waste shall be included.

The user manual template complies with this standard. Study the IEC checklist to ensure your manual complies with the standard. Action: To adjust the user manual template: If you want to work with the free template: Download the free user manual template Word or Change the section headings according to your own ToC.

Do not adjust the Table of Contents. The table of contents can be updated automatically once you have adjusted the section headings. Add the mandatory content as determined in step 6 of your manual. If applicable, modify sections and the appendices according to your own needs. The international standard for user instructions, the IEC , provides the following definition for the intended use: An exhaustive range of functions or foreseen applications defined and designed by the supplier of the product By describing the intended use you determine the safe envelope of the product.

Action: write the intended use and the reasonably foreseeable misuse of your product. Write the safety warnings based on the risk analysis Even though the intended use has now been clearly defined, this does not mean that using a product is completely without any risks.

According to this method, there is the following hierarchy of risk-reducing measures: Inherently safe design measures Safeguarding and complementary protective measures Information for use This means that the user guide should warn of any residual risks related to the use of the product. BUY NOW A good safety warning describes the nature of a hazardous situation, the consequences of not avoiding a hazardous situation and the method s for avoiding it.

In the first part of the specific section: Embedded in a procedure: 1. In the Preface any supplemental directives can be placed, such as Read all instructions before use or Keep these instructions for future reference can be placed in the introduction of a user manual. In order to help Philip create and place a safety message, I have created another template. Create all other content Now I asked Philip to create all other content, such as the procedures, technical specs and legal information.

I gave the following tips: Exclude unnecessary material to avoid information overload for example sales promotion, extensive repetition etc. Make sure terms are familiar to the user, technical features and terms are well explained and use terms consistently. Describe any prerequisites that should be met before the actual instructions start. This may also be describing special tools or space for maintenance and repair. Provide conceptual information when information is necessary for adequate understanding and execution of tasks.

Always write topic based. Use a bold typeface for all product elements. Use a style guide to help you write and format documentation in a clearer way. Indicate when you want to add an image for better understanding later. Make sure words and phrases are not too complicated or over-sophisticated. Use the direct active voice and assertive commands. Use words like nouns and verbs consistently to avoid ambiguity. Action: create all other content for your user manual. Place the safety warnings in the right position When using the template for crafting the safety messages, I asked Philip to indicate whether a safety message is a supplemental directive, or should be placed as a grouped, section or embedded safety message.

Now all text has been created, the safety messages can be placed in the right place. Action: place all safety messages in the right location in the user manual. Step 9 Add Navigation to Your User Manual Template A user manual should give assistance to people by providing information about how to use a product. Action: Add or update your table of contents, page numbering and index. Step 10 Have Your User Manual Reviewed Philip has now created the draft version of his user manual, using the user manual template.

Step 11 Create the Images Once the user manual has been reviewed and optimized, the texts are more or less definite. There are many great tools that can help you create your images, such as: Snagit or Adobe Photoshop for editing screenshots or photos Solidworks Composer or Google Sketchup for creating line drawings Lucidchart or Microsoft Visio for diagrams and schematics I advised Philip not to use photos as a cheap alternative for illustrations. For that reason, Philip used Google Sketchup to create his illustrations.

Action: Create the images for your user manual. If you want to know more about creating images: Using text, images or video Creating IKEA-ish manuals Step 12 Final Check of the User Manual Template Before we start making it look nice and translate the content, we want to be sure that the content is complete.

In order to do so, I asked Philip to use a checklist. I created this template in Indesign and asked Philip to adjust it to match his brand identity. Step 15 Translate and Publish your User Manuals Depending on the market in which you are going to sell your product, you might need to translate the user manual.

Some general tips: Look for a translator with similar experience. This could be a translator who is experienced in translating technical content, with similar products or with translating user manuals. If you need to translate to several languages, working with a translation agency might save you lots of time. Ask the translator or agency about their quality procedures and who is going to revise the text after translation. As you know your product best and who your audience is, it might be a good idea to provide the translator or agency a glossary or a list with the terminology that you want to use.

Look for a translator who can work directly in your Word or InDesign file or find an agency that can do the DTP works as well. Alternatively, you can do this yourself, of course. Action: Find a translator or agency that fits your needs and have your user manual translated. User guides have been found with ancient devices. One example is the Antikythera Mechanism [4] , a 2, year old Greek analogue computer that was found off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in the year On the cover of this device are passages of text which describe the features and operation of the mechanism.

As the software industry was developing, the question of how to best document software programs was undecided. This was a unique problem for software developers, since users often became frustrated with current help documents [5]. Some considerations for writing a user guide that developed at this time include:. User manuals and user guides for most non-trivial software applications are book-like documents with contents similar to the above list.

They may be distributed either in print or electronically. Some documents have a more fluid structure with many internal links. The Google Earth User Guide [7] is an example of this format.

The term guide is often applied to a document that addresses a specific aspect of a software product. An example is the Picasa Getting Started Guide. In some business software applications, where groups of users have access to only a sub-set of the application's full functionality, a user guide may be prepared for each group. Depending on the volume and lay- out design, software applications are classified as follows:. These applications are easier to use since you are already familiar with its features and operations.

You can make a Manual using these Microsoft programs, but in terms of designing and lay- outing of the Manual, there are less features and tools to play with. These applications have functionality and features that would take time to learn and get used to. However, these tools can give added color, texture and richness of design to the Manual which cannot be produced using the default Word programs.

Given these considerations, Adobe programs has the highest degree of freedom in terms of lay-outing and designing the Manual. It will be more beneficial to have both hard and soft copy of your Manual. Communicating clearly in a technical document requires planning and careful adherence to standards throughout the guide.

Standards in both presentation, language, and nomenclature help avoid confusion. Templates are available and can be a good starting point for uniformity, although these can certainly be adapted to fit each situation. Using a one-inch margin with a single column best suits the need to add graphics; a two-column setting might appear too crowded, and can make placement of images confusing. More than any other type of document, a software user guide is likely to go through multiple iterations before it is complete, and it is likely to go through a review process by multiple stakeholders.

Using the Track Changes feature on Microsoft Word is an easy way to keep track of each individual's comments and changes. Creating multiple versions after each review cycle, each with a different file name, also helps the process along and makes sure all stakeholders are satisfied with the final result.

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