Multiple products in the one manual?
April 28, 2010Should you document multiple products in the one user manual? Or does it just confuse users?
This question was prompted by a blog post I read recently (I like R-ing the F-ing Manual: http://www.merebagatelle.com/index.php/2010/04/wtfm/). The author stated that he hates manuals that try to cover all product lines in the one document — he finds them confusing and of no use when he is looking for specifics about the model he’s purchased. And he’s frustrated by the endless safety warnings and the input that lawyers have on these.
Normally, I wouldn’t have responded to his plea for a manual that just covers a single product. However, only two weeks ago I purchased a Sunbeam electric blanket for our new bed. And reading those instructions was frustrating and confusing!
Why? Because they covered general safety precautions (2 full pages + a loose leaf page), then SEVEN different types of blanket and 24 different models — all in a 20 page booklet. You can view a PDF of this manual here: http://www.sunbeam.com.au/PDFDownloadHandler.ashx?id=11047
In addition, there were sections that were general to all types and models. These were before AND after the specific model information. Some of the specific model information was common to all models, yet wasn’t in one of these general sections. For example, every model included the same subsection wording for SleepPerfect Technology and Cosy feet heating — this could have gone in with the general information about all models. Every model had a similar subsection for Detachable controls and Dual controls (there were some minor variations in wording for some of these).
Even my cursory analysis of this content highlighted several areas of repetition. A full analysis would no doubt highlight more. The information for the specific models may have been better placed in a table or matrix of features, with supporting notes — if required. That would have saved on paper and would have made reading this manual much less confusing. Instructions for fitting and using the blanket would have been clearer with numbered steps.
With today’s authoring tools that allow for all sorts of single-sourcing, the use of variables, variants and the like, there’s no reason (except printing costs) why there should haven’t been a different manual for each type of electric blanket, even if there wasn’t a separate one for each model.
Alternatively, if printing costs are so prohibitive, then spending a little more time and money on information/content analysis could pay for itself in reduced printing costs (replace nine specific model pages with a feature table/matrix on a single page), better readability, better usability and better comprehension.
BTW, many technical writers/communicators and/or content strategists can do information/content analysis of your existing documentation. You might even have one on staff…
See also:
- What makes a content strategist?: http://scattergather.razorfish.com/612/2009/05/29/what-makes-a-content-strategist/
- Why you need a content strategist: http://boagworld.com/site-content/content-strategist
[Links last checked April 2010]
A couple of things to note…
This was created in InDesign. It’s much less flexible when it comes to variables or content reuse unless you use a tool that integrates with it (none currently do, that I know of). InDesign is more of a page layout tool than an authoring tool.
Second, the stuff in the middle? That’s all really just marketing fluff. The beginning (the safety; which I believe is a legal requirement here that it is located in the front of the document) and the end (the actual “how to install and use”) weren’t that difficult to read. Yes, the install section included information on a blanket you may not have purchased, but it was really only a page you could easily ignore, right?
Having done printed booklets for appliances (computer appliances, not the refrigerator variety), I know how difficult it is to include information on all variations in one booklet along with all the required legal mumbo jumbo. And it is very expensive to print which is why you do a single print/binding run.
All that said, I thought most of the marketing fluff was pretty useless. Yes, a table MIGHT BE easier to read (although I might disagree there), but… you already bought a blanket, so why are they trying to sell you another one already? Better would have been to maybe list a website where you could go browse all their cool blankies (antibiotic? really? REALLY? LOL!).
At least THIS booklet had a TOC. So you could have easily gone to the page you needed.
Finally, um… you had to read the booklet??? Or did you just read it to evaluate it?
LOL, Sue! Thanks for looking and offering your thoughts on how and why they put together the manual like this.
As to your question, I read that manual for two reasons.
One, ‘professional courtesy’. Like you, I write manuals (though not for appliances), so I’d like to think that someone, somewhere might read what I write. Equally, I extend that ‘courtesy’ to another writer, and so am one of the 10% (I made that figure up!) of the population who actually reads the manual.
Two, we hadn’t purchased a new electric blanket for some years. The outside packaging mentioned that it was washable (!), so I thought I’d take a look and see what that was about as every other electric blanket I’ve owned couldn’t go anywhere near water. In the process, I discovered all the other marketing fluff about the models I *didn’t* buy (and yes, that marketing stuff shouldn’t have even been in the manual), as well as finding that the bits of information I needed were scattered in various parts of the booklet.