Help documentation – how does this work?
Image via IKEA
Most of us are familiar with the experience of coming home with some new and exciting gadget – a phone, DVD recorder, or complicated children’s toy perhaps – only to be frustrated by the inadequacy (or even total absence) of the instructions.
While some people will never read instructions unless absolutely forced to, most people are happy to consult the user help when they are doing something for the first time. The problem arises when they either can’t understand the help documentation, or it doesn’t tell them what they want to know.
If your business sells any type of product, whether it’s a physical object such as a board game or something less tangible such as a software application, providing your customers with clear, concise and easily followed help documentation is vital.
You should see the creation of help documentation not as an add-on cost, but as part of your product development budget. If it helps clients to use your product to its full capabilities, good help documentation is a sound investment.
Good help documentation can also serve to:
differentiate your products from those of your competitors
help users experience all of the features of the product, making them more likely to buy the next version or recommend it to others
establish the reputation of your company as one that values its clients.
Help documentation doesn’t have to be complex – take a look at the instructions that came with your most recent Ikea purchase – so long as it assists the end-user achieve their objective.
Sometimes you’ll need to develop different versions for different users. Most printers you buy these days come with a ‘quick start guide’ designed to help users get their new printer set up as quickly as possible. Advanced users can consult the complete manual to explore the product’s features in more detail.
Of course, online video has opened up a range of new opportunities for creating help documentation. Now you can show your users exactly how to use your product in short, easily digested episodes. Also, new technologies and software are making videos cheaper than ever to produce and publish. Whatever approach you take, investing a little bit of time and money in your end-user help documentation will reward you handsomely in the longer term.
