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Quick Reference Guides Right Where You Need Them

Series: Quick reference guides

by Tom Johnson on Apr 9, 2009
categories: technical-writing • quick-reference-guides • web-design

  1. 1.0 Quick Reference Guides: The Poetry of Technical Writing
  2. 1.1 Quick Reference Guide Formats -- Tips for Finding Attractive Layouts
  3. 1.2 STC Presentation this Thursday: "Quick Reference Guides: Short and Sweet Technical Documentation"
  4. 1.3 → Quick Reference Guides Right Where You Need Them
  5. 1.4 Quick Reference Guides: Short and Sweet Documentation
  6. 1.5 Documentation Usability: A Few Things I've Learned from Watching Users
  7. 1.6 Starting Points with Quick Reference Guides: Gathering Before Designing
  8. 1.7 Quick reference guide slides from the Transalpine Conference
  9. 1.8 Webinar Recording -- Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-Based Hierarchies
  10. 1.9 Quick Reference Guide Gallery

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?

Birds eye view of the quick reference guide
Birds eye view of the quick reference guide

Here's a close-up:

Birds eye view of the quick reference guide
Close-up view of the quick reference guide

Thanks to Louellen Coker of Content Solutions for sending me these pictures. I believe this is her actual chair, which is from Neutral Posture. It's a great example of integrating help directly in the user interface, making it part of the product rather than a separate entity.

About Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson

I'm a technical writer / API doc specialist based in the Seattle area. In this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, visual communication, information architecture, writing techniques, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation if you're looking for more info about that. If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the field, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.

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