User manuals are essential for users to understand products and processes. They can even be legally required for companies selling products. A well-crafted user manual can reduce customer support costs by providing answers before customers contact your team. Investing time and effort into creating a great manual improves customer experience. This guide explores the definition of a user manual, best practices for writing one, and tools to help.
What is a User Manual?
A user manual, also known as an instruction manual or user guide, is a document that helps users understand and use a system, product, or service. It covers detailed information about operations, standards, guidelines, troubleshooting, functionalities, and more.
User manuals usually contain step-by-step instructions for product use and troubleshooting. They should include a table of contents and an index for easy navigation. A “getting started” guide at the beginning helps customers quickly learn the basics. Manuals can be printed, online, or a combination of both.
Types of User Manuals
Consider these different types of user manuals when creating your documentation:
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Instruction Manual: Provides basic instructions on how to use a product effectively.
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Training Manual: Guides users on how to complete a job, process, or task.
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Service Manual: Instructs users on maintaining machinery throughout its lifecycle.
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User Manual: A technical document that assists users in operating a product.
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Operation Manual: Documents a company’s information, including roles, responsibilities, and processes.
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Organizational Policy Manual: Outlines the company’s policies, procedures, and best practices.
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Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) Manual: Provides clear instructions for completing specific processes within an organization.
Regardless of the manual type, common themes can guide your documentation.
What Makes a Good User Manual?
1. Plain Language
Use clear, simple language that’s easy to understand. Avoid complex language or jargon. Use short sentences and words. If technical terms are necessary, define them or link to a glossary.
2. Visual Aids
Break up walls of text with relevant images, diagrams, and videos to engage users. Make it clear which step of the instructions your visuals refer to. Using visual aids enhances understanding and makes the manual more appealing. Alt text: “User manual search bar on a website, emphasizing searchable content.”
3. Logical Hierarchical Structure
Organize your content with a logical hierarchical structure that makes sense to users. This helps them easily find the information they need. A well-defined structure is key for usability.
4. Searchable Content
Make your content searchable by providing an online knowledge base with a clear search bar. The search bar should predict terms and search both titles and content.
5. Clear Topics and Relevant Articles
Organize content into clear, logical topics. Avoid too many topics (overwhelming) or too many subtopic levels (difficult to navigate).
6. Feedback and Reviews
Actively seek feedback from users. Use their suggestions to improve the manual. Ensure users can successfully solve problems using the manual.
How to Create a User Manual
1. Identify the Users
Determine your target audience: demographics, needs, problems, and requirements. Understanding your audience dictates the level of detail and presentation style.
2. Focus on the Problem
User manuals solve problems. Identify these problems and provide solutions in your instructions. Address product issues directly rather than relying solely on documentation workarounds.
3. Use Sequential Steps
Break down instructions into sequential steps presented as a numbered list. Start with the easiest task. Keep one point per step for clarity. Show users what the completed task will look like before moving on.
4. Map the User Journey
Research how users interact with your product. Provide documentation relevant to each touchpoint in the user journey. Understand the user’s goals when using the product. Segment users as needed, as their reasons for using the product may vary.
5. Choose a Template
Maintain consistency by using templates. Templates should be clear, easy to follow, and include essential components.
Your template can include:
- Space for an introduction
- Sections and subsections
- Sequential steps
- Warnings and call-outs
- Space for a conclusion
Specify font size, text-to-background contrast, and use color-coding consistently.
6. Write Simple, Easy-to-Follow Content
If you understand your users and write clearly, your content should be simple and easy to follow. Edit rigorously to streamline content, including only essential elements. Limit each step to a single task.
7. Treat All Users as Laymen
Avoid technical jargon. Assume users have no prior knowledge of the product. Be as explicit as possible in your documentation.
8. Test Instructions with Naive Users
Test your user manual on users unfamiliar with the product. Note where users struggle and revise accordingly. The manual should provide all necessary information, eliminating the need for support.
9. Adopt a Practical Approach
Include practical examples alongside instructions to show users expected results. Clearly explain what users will see or hear, and any feedback they might receive from the product.
10. Explain Symbols, Icons, and Codes Early
Explain any symbols, icons, or codes used in your documentation early on.
Top Technical Writing Tools for Creating User Manuals
1. Document360
Document360 is excellent for creating user manuals. Use its state-of-the-art editor to write and organize content using the Category Manager, which allows up to six levels of subcategories. The editor supports both WYSIWYG and Markdown.
Document360’s user manuals have a powerful search engine and are optimized for any device. Extend capabilities through extensions with apps like Drift, Intercom, and Freshchat. Alt text: “Screenshot of Document360 software interface, highlighting its features for user manual creation.”
Customize your manual with the Homepage Builder, adding links, changing colors, and including categories. Further customization is possible using CSS and JavaScript.
Documenting, storing, and sharing user manuals is made easy with Document360.
2. Adobe FrameMaker
Adobe FrameMaker is a Help Authoring Tool specialized for web documents. Author intelligent structured content using XML and DITA, suitable for all user levels. Easily import content from Microsoft Word.
FrameMaker supports rich media for immersive content. Collaborate with experts using Adobe Acrobat desktop and online services.
It handles large documents with styling complexities and uses a template-based authoring environment. Publish to PDF, EPUB, mobile app, and responsive HTML5. Support for XLIFF enables global reach.
3. Markdown
Markdown is a lightweight markup language for creating formatted text. It is a text-to-HTML conversion tool that allows you to easily create and host user manuals on the web. Its syntax is highly readable.
4. Paligo
Paligo is a Component Content Management System for teams. It provides an end-to-end platform for intelligent content and a single source of truth. Author your user manual with content reuse and structured authoring. Alt text: “Paligo documentation tool interface, showcasing its features for team collaboration and content management.”
Paligo delivers topic-based authoring and smart content reuse, accelerating documentation release. The cloud-based platform facilitates team collaboration.
Personalize content for different audiences and publish to HTML5, PDF print, SCORM eLearning, Zendesk, Salesforce, GitHub, BitBucket, Amazon S3, and more. Write content once and repurpose it easily.
Paligo offers versioning designed for content authors, including version history, roll-back, version branching, and release management.
Conclusion
User manuals are essential. Invest adequate time and effort in their creation. Different tools cater to different organizational needs. Test them and choose the best one for you.
A helpful user manual results in more satisfied, loyal customers. Your customer service team will appreciate the self-service resource, which minimizes help desk inquiries.
