Re: FW: Usability Studies and Manual Organization

[Kathleen MacDowell <kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Would it be possible to combine all the different manuals into one, with
product version identified where there's a difference?

Also, could you find a way to reduce the manager's effort? For example, you
could highlight the changes and send a note specifying the type of change
(e.g., major/minor, GUI change, grammar, org).

Kathleen


On Tue, Jan 21, 2014 at 4:27 PM, Lippincott, Richard
<RLippincott -at- as-e -dot- com>wrote:

> I'm fighting a battle for about the fourth or fifth time here, and I could
> use some studies or documentation to support my point.
>
> To make a long story short (and those of you who know me know how
> difficult this is), we're using printed manuals because that's what the
> customers prefer. When we roll out a variation of a product, if the
> variation is significant enough to change the operator's workflow or
> significantly changes the GUI, I issue a new manual (new part number) keyed
> to that product variation.
>
> There is a program manager here who feels that the best way to handle
> these variations is to stick an appendix or addendum at the end of the
> baseline manual, and let the user flip pages. (The actual truth, which he
> has admitted, is that if we only had one manual to cover all of the product
> variations, his paperwork level would be smaller and he would prefer that.)
>
> I'm sure that someone has done some scholarly work analyzing reductions in
> usability and readability when new data is shoved into an appendix, and
> perhaps even the impact on safety.
>
> Can anyone point me in the right direction?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rick Lippincott, Technical Writer
> American Science and Engineering, Inc. | www.as-e.com
> 829 Middlesex Turnpike | Billerica, MA 01821 USA | Fax +1-978-262-8702
> Office +1-978-262-8807 | rlippincott -at- as-e -dot- com
>
>
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-- 
Kathleen MacDowell
kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com
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