English 421: Technical Writing

Documentation Usability Tips

I think this article does a very good job of summing up the correct protocols for creating useable documentation.  It starts off with explaining the purpose of documentation and why it is so important to the overall success of the product. This is very true, I believe in the instance of any technology related product. If the user can find a product that is more documented and thus easier to use they will chose that over your product.  The documentation of a product will guide the end user through the entire use of the product, and any features or functions that are not clearly documented might as well not exist in the consumers mind... For example, when I bought a coffee maker I was very dissapointed with the documentation as it was my first time purchasing a coffee maker and I was not able to take advantage of many of the features because I had no idea how to use them and they were not clearly documented, after reading the poorly written documentation I almost opted to return the product, but being the stubborn person I am I pressed on and tried to figure it out on my own, no thanks to the company.

Another important part of this article is the statement "Think the Users' Way" I believe that this was another important factor my dissatisfaction with the coffee makers documentation. They talked about everything from a very technical point of view and the document would have been better served with some nice examples or something for us first time coffe maker purchasers.  Enough harping on the coffee maker, but I really think this is a valid point that you need to write TO the user because that's who it will made for. Documentation should not be an after thought. (The way Cisco's web management console for the PIX was.... TERRIBLE) it should be created along side the product and organized and organized and organized!