Guest post by Ben Minson
If I asked you to name one of the most oft-repeated phrases of 2009 in the technical communication field, what would you say?
“Nobody reads the manual”?
Most of us have heard or read that statement in one form or another over the last year. I’m not going to argue that manuals aren’t appropriate for some situations; however, often we don’t do a good enough job educating others about what we can do that we still get pigeonholed into writing another manual for our latest project. We recognize that most manuals sit on shelves or in boxes and are rarely touched. We search for the magic combination of content and delivery that will bring users to the documentation in enthusiastic crowds.
At his previous employer, one of my colleagues, Tom Johnson, began creating quick reference guides. When he got his current job, he went back to creating online help and a user manual for his first project, because that’s what the project manager expected from a technical writer. Tom became even more convinced that users don’t want manuals, so he introduced the idea of quick reference guides to that project and to our team.
Another member of the team recently worked on a policy training site project, and he said, “How can I get people to come to these policies squealing with delight?” On February 10, I’m going to talk about quick reference guides as an alternative to manuals. Quick reference guides may not make people squeal with delight, but they’re much less likely to squeal with distaste. And they’re likely to get the information they need with minimal delay.
This webinar, entitled “Quick Reference Guides: Short and Sweet Technical Documentation,” [see link for more information and to sign up!] will explain when to use this type of deliverable, how to develop the content, and what to consider in the design. We’ll talk about some tools you can use and some considerations on delivery. And lest you think I’m completely enamored of quick reference guides, we’ll discuss both benefits and drawbacks. This webinar is for technical communicators at all levels—any who are interested in increasing the chances that people will use the documentation.
Overall, quick reference guides provide a way for users to quickly (hence the name) find the information they need and go back to getting the job done. And this, I think, is the essence of technical writing.