Re: Advice On User Manuals

["Jared M. Spool" <jspool -at- UIE -dot- COM>]

Suzanne Pyle wrote:

> My question involves using engineering specs to write the manual.
> Have any of you done this before without actually using the
> software/hardware? And if you have, did you also interface with
> engineers for your questions ?

We have been successful at producing a full working version of the
design by building a paper mockup.  The paper mockup is a fully
interactive representation of the design.  It has these advantages:

o  It can be built from the specifications.  From a well defined set
of specifications, it often takes us less than an hour to build.  No
special talents necessary.

o  If the spec isn't well defined, then details are identified and
decisions get made. This gives the development team a tool for
determining the missing parts of the design.

o  You can take the mockup and actually use it to write the manual
from.  You can interact with the mockup to determine the behaviours
and match them to the tasks.

o  You can verify the mockup by showing it to the other members of the
development team.  The mockup becomes a visualization of what the
design will look like, much like an architect's cardboard model or a
car designer's clay model.  It becomes the common medium for
discussing the actual behavior of the application.

We have used this technique successfully with dozens of products.

I hope you find this helpful.

Jared

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 Jared M. Spool                User Interface Engineering
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 (508) 975-4343                   North Andover, MA 01845
 fax: (508) 975-5353                                  USA

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