I'd Rather Be Writing

This is the proceedings writeup that my colleague Ben Minson and I wrote to accompany our presentation on quick reference guides for the upcoming STC Summit in Atlanta. Be sure to check out the quick reference gallery mentioned near the end. Tom's Perspective: The Need for Shorter Documentation Several years ago, the customers I wrote software manuals for kept coming to me with the same request. After giving them a 75-page manual or larger, the project managers, ... Read more..

One of the fundamental aspects of quick reference guides is knowing when to create them. A few weeks ago I was assigned to a small project team working on a relatively simple application, and I pitched the idea of several role-based quick reference guides for the help content. I showed samples from other projects, and the project team agreed it was what they wanted. Soon after, I started designing the help content for the application. I ... Read more..

Have you ever tried to adjust your office chair but couldn't remember how to do it? Do you ever look at all the little levers under your seat and wonder how they work with the myriad muscles in your back? Don't you wish you could just pull a quick reference guide ... out of the arm of your chair? Read more..

Quick reference guides provide one or two page condensed instructions. Formats for quick reference guides vary dramatically and can involve complex, multi-colored layouts, or just simple text callouts next to a few images. The other day I stopped by a local thrift store (Desert Industries) and picked up a few magazines for $.25 cents a piece, looking for attractive layouts that I could use as quick reference guide formats. The format most appealing to me was ... Read more..

I received another question from John from Delaware. It was actually in his other e-mail, but I neglected to address it because I don't usually spend so much time answering readers' questions. This one, however, addresses a topic I'm presenting on in a usability progression at the upcoming STC Summit in Atlanta. Concerned about the field of technical writing, John writes, People don't read manuals -- I'm sure you've heard this one, but isn't it true? I ... Read more..

In The Back of the Napkin, Dan Roam explains that drawing pictures can help you solve problems. He says the first rule is to "collect everything possible up front" (p.58). After collecting all your information, you then "lay it all out where you can look at it" (p. 61). By laying out all the information, you can grasp the whole of it, make connections between various parts, see the important sections, and recognize patterns. These two ... Read more..

A couple of weeks ago I gave an STC webinar called Designing Quick Reference Guides. This was a general STC webinar, and usually I am not allowed to repost the recording, but due to some audio difficulties, I had to re-record it, and the STC gave me permission to post the re-recording. Here are the files to watch or download the webinar: Webinar recording | zip Slides only Audio only Read more..