A successful manual, whether text-based or video, needs to present material in a uniform, logical fashion. It requires dependable and complete indexing, adherence to common terminology, consistent stylistic choices and a clear, lucid voice.

Why Manuals Fail

Generally, when a manual fails, it's because a company answered “yes” to one or both of the following questions:

  1. ★Do you wait until the product is finished to write documentation?

  2. Good manuals aren't created in a single Herculean effort—they require several Herculean efforts. Ideally, the first draft of the manual is written before the product is created; serving as a detailed specification for programmers and engineers. Writers need time to explain and expand on complicated issues, and to provide clear examples and tutorials wherever needed. Also, if you involve a good manual writer early in the development process, they can have a positive influence on the total user experience. Frequently, if a writer is having trouble documenting a feature, it's because that feature is poorly designed. Often, a good manual writer will suggest a better, more concise way to implement it. By involving documentation people early, your product has a much better chance of success.

  3. ★Do you believe that anyone who writes well can write a manual?

  4. Many people believe that if they can write a good email, they can write an owner's manual. In reality, the skills required of a good manual writer are quite different than those of the casual communicator. Manual writers must wade through complex, interrelated product features and discern an order and technique for presenting this information. They must be painfully consistent in their language patterns. They must be simultaneously thorough and concise, and they must deal with the frustrations of documenting a "moving target," since many products alter their interfaces and feature sets during the development cycle.

Why ULTRAsomething?

ULTRAsomething founder, grEGORy simpson has written thousands of pages for dozens of highly praised software and hardware products. He's created complex documentation templates, online manuals, interactive learning tools, and scores of modern, web-hosted training videos.

In addition to creating documentation aimed at the end-user, he has also authored quality documentation at all stages of a product's development cycle, including product proposal documents, and product specifications.

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