user documentation (part of the development phase of the psm) mark kelly [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
Who needs documentation?
• Anyone affected by the new system– Users within the organisation– Management– Technicians– Customers– Corporate partners
Formats
• Printed - e.g. books, leaflets, posters• expensive, costly to ship, slow to update,
colour is very costly, easily damaged, hard to copy.
• Can be read anywhere and any time without technology, can annotate it easily (with a pen)
Formats• Electronic e.g. website, CD/DVD, animation,
slideshow, Windows help file • Quickly updated, free colour, excellent
navigation with links & electronic search, animation, multimedia, holds huge quantities of information (except in animations and slideshows)
• Requires technology, electricity, bandwidth, tech skills
Typical TypesYou need to know these
–Quick-start guide = how to carry out basic, common tasks–User manual = how to carry out every
action–Tutorial = explanation, demonstrations,
examples, exercises to learn through practice–Content-sensitive help = offers help
relevant to your current activities
Quick start guide
User manual
Tutorial
Typical Types– Installation guide = a small booklet or
single-page leaflet– Technical reference = for technicians–Quick reference – memory-jogging
summary of information people often forget
Managers
• Need an overview of the system’s requirements for staffing, equipment, time, expense etc
• Need to know enough to support the system and its users
Customers
• If customers are expected to use the system (e.g. catalogue search system in a library, bank ATMs) they need basic documentation to tell them how to use it
• Documentation should be easy to understand, basic, brief
Corporate Partners
• Most businesses exchange data with other organisations
• Those organisations need to know how a new system affects them
• E.g. a writer uses a word processor and sends documents to a printer. The printer needs to know how to open and format the documents.
Technicians• Need full details about using, fixing, fine-
tuning, trouble-shooting, or extending the system
• Need gory details that other users don’t want or need
By Mark [email protected]
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