Don't Forget That Manual!
No user manual? Surely you jest!
It may seem comical, but it's a surprisingly common situation.
I've encountered many companies that don't provide any user
manuals with their products. If they do, their manuals are often
horribly incoherent, or else years out of date. It shouldn't
happen, but it happens all the time.
Now, this problem is less common when buying off-the-shelf
software or consumer electronics. That's because these products
typically come from large corporations that pay attention to
such details. Among smaller engineering firms though, this is a
frequent occurrence. In fact, I'd estimate that about half of
the small engineering companies that I've encountered are guilty
of this offense.
I remember how one engineer told me why his company didn't
provide any user manuals with their products. In hushed tones,
he said, "It's because we don't make any money by writing
manuals. It's not a money-making venture, so our management
doesn't want to waste time on this." An annoyed expression crept
into his face, then he leaned closer and said, "We have lost so
many customers because we don't have decent documentation. Talk
about being penny-wise, pound-foolish!"
It's not just the customers who suffer when manuals are
inadequate or non-existent. What about the employees themselves?
What happens when a new engineer comes on board, and has to
learn quickly? Or what happens when existing engineers need to
familiarize themselves more with unfamiliar aspects of their
product lines? The user documentation, if properly written, can
provide a gentle and efficient way of bringing the up to speed.
Without it, they will be forced to rely more heavily on other
engineers to educate them, thus wasting the time of everyone
concerned. Weeks, if not months, of valuable manpower can be
squandered in this fashion.
At times, a company will pay lip service to user documentation
by slapping together some hastily written document that is
difficult for a new user to digest. "Who cares about wording
anyway?" I've heard many engineers say. "We're not writing
poetry or screenplays here. What matters is that the manual must
be technically accurate."
This is an appallingly short-sighted view. Technical accuracy is
indeed important, but so are presentation and style. Few
engineers would listen to a job applicant who shows up in a
bathrobe and slippers, or a litigation attorney who speaks like
a valley girl-and yet somehow, these same engineers expect their
customers to slog through pages of meandering, poorly phrased
text. Even matters as fundamental as spelling, grammar and
proofreading are often treated as mere annoyances-piddling
details that are worth nothing more than a cursory glance.
(To my relief, I have not encountered any such attitudes at my
place of employment. I hasten to say this, lest anyone think
that I'm complaining about the people that I work with! No, I've
found that we all appreciate the value of excellence, for which
I am always thankful. But I digress.)
Mind you, I understand that there are times when a company might
not choose to invest an all-out effort in user manual
development. This can happen during the early startup stages,
for example, when manpower is in short supply and the products
are still undergoing refinement. Unfortunately, many small
companies never grow past that stage. Even after many years,
they continue to thinks of user documentation as a trifling
detail which deserves only a modicum of effort. By perpetuating
that mindset, they ultimately shortchange both the customers and
themselves.
Like it or not, a company's user documentation (or lack thereof)
is a reflection on the company itself. You can be sure that your
customers will notice if the user manuals are poor or
non-existent. In today's busy world, where people need to absorb
information as efficiently as possible, the lack of quality
documentation can be nothing short of disastrous.