On-screen user documentation

Contents What qualifies as ‘onscreen’? Pros and Cons: onscreen vs printed Types – Quick-start guide – Tutorial – Content-sensitive help – User Manual – Technical reference – Installation guide (bolded ones are required knowledge)

Onscreen? It’s intended to be seen onscreen rather than to be printed. Does NOT include: Word, PDF which are meant to be printed. Does include: web pages, multimedia animation, Flash, multimedia slideshow in kiosk mode so user controls navigation

How to identify onscreen documentation Multimedia Lots of graphics – still pictures, graphs, photos Hyperlinks, buttons Animation, video, screen movies Audio – music, sound effects, voice recording

Storing onscreen documentation On CD/DVD Website Slideshow Electronic help file Screen recording

can be accessed anywhere, anytime without the need for electricity, computer equipment or internet connection is usually better written due to more careful editing will still be readable even after many years and after many changes to file systems, disk formats, compression technologies etc which can render electronic documents inaccessible. Advantages of printing

Disadvantages of printing bulky expensive to ship very expensive to print in colour slow to update hard to search no active links between related sections difficult and expensive to copy wears out with regular use can get lost

instantly updateable can use animation, video, audio etc can be interactive easy to search hyperlinks connect related sections free use of colour easy to copy and distribute advantages of onscreen

need electricity, a computer and often internet to read it very hard to read in bright sunshine some locations (e.g. beach, factory, aircraft) are not computer-friendly usually can't easily underline sections or add comments some people find it very hard to read onscreen Disadvantages of onscreen

Quick start guide Brief introduction to a product Just enough information for the user to get it started Only covers very basic introductory operations

Tutorial Actually teaches users Step-by-step lesson covering how to use the product. Often example-based

Content-sensitive help Electronic help built into the product that responds to what the user is currently doing. e.g. if they have a table formatting dialogue box open and they press F1, the first help topic offered would relate to table formatting. Also called context-sensitive help.

User Manual Complete and detailed information on every aspect of the product, used for random reference by the user. Tip – use as few words as possible for an international audience

Technical reference For experts only, not average users Detailed information on how the product is built How to modify, repair, extend it Troubleshooting

Installation Guide Very brief leaflet showing how to install the hardware or software Usually printed rather than electronic

Good onscreen documentation Clear – easy to read and understand Concise – as few words as possible Comprehensive – nothing left out Current - up-to-date Correct - accurate Controllable – easy to use & navigate