Example Of User Manual For Software

[Melchior Dow]

Thisdocument provides an overview and sample sections from a user manual for an online classroom application. The manual was written to be intuitive for both instructors and students with varying technical skills. It includes a table of contents listing the sections and features covered. Sample sections describe the online classroom interface, instructor control panel options like uploading slides and content, and creating and managing slide lists.Read less

An instruction manual is meant to be a comprehensive resource for anything there is to know about a given product. The main purpose of the document is to make clear to customers how to use the product to its maximum potential.

This can help clarify any confusion around purchases, returns, exchanges, or any other request your users may have after buying your product. Similarly, warranty info can make clear what your responsibilities are should the product fail at any time.

Zooming out, you also want to analyze the context of these engagements as best you can. Knowing what a user did before and after checking out your instruction manual will allow you to better understand their needs, and gauge your ability to help them.

With a knowledge base, you can allow your customers to self-help themselves, thus reducing your customer support by up to 60%. Furthermore, you can also have your team get instant answers to the questions they need without having to email themselves all using knowledge base software.

The purpose of knowledge base software is to allow you to host your knowledge base/corporate wiki in one centralized 'hub'. Both your customers, and employees can now access information within seconds!

Digital tools are inherently more complicated for new users. Software user guides come in many formats, from PDFs, video tutorials, help guides, and interactive in-app guidance. User guides ensure technology systems are adopted into day-to-day workflows accurately, helping to drive intended business outcomes.

This shift in consumer behavior stems from a desire for faster service that users can depend on when they need it most. With user guides, businesses can deliver content that helps customers answer basic how-to questions and conduct simple troubleshooting without depending on any external help. This self-help support not only enables a better customer experience but empowers customer service teams to deflect support tickets through self-service solutions.

You want to empower your users with enough information to feel confident exploring your product and pushing the boundaries of what they can do with it. In-app user guides do just this, empowering your users with contextual onboarding and support that drives adoption and helps them achieve their intended business outcomes.

An instructional manual is a comprehensive document that provides a thorough introduction to a product, how individuals can get set up with it, the different types of applications the product has, and tutorials on each of those applications.

Instruction manuals are a good fit for complex software with intricate features and robust data management policies, helping provide product support for systems like ERPs, computer-aided design software, and healthcare information systems.

In-app guidance provides learning at the moment of need for users, and provides context that traditional software documentation lacks. In-app guidance provides a level of support that drives product knowledge and adoption.

Product managers and non-technical team members can create in-app user guides and help elements with a digital adoption platform (DAP). A DAP like Whatfix provides these team members with a no-code editor to create, launch, and analyze in-app guided experiences.

Knowledge bases are also designed to support self-service learning, giving users a single repository to answer common questions, troubleshoot errors, or deepen their understanding of a product. Easy navigation and clear content organization are needed to make knowledge bases deliver optimum results.

To overcome this, REG partnered with Whatfix to create in-app user task lists, step-by-step flows, smart tips, and other in-app guided experiences to provide contextual support for their various end-users using Salesforce and Oracle.

With this in-app guidance, REG could nudge employees to the correct next step in their user journey, reduce time-to-proficiency for new employees, and provide self-help support on common IT-related issues and process questions.

REG also used Whatfix to curate its employee user documentation and guides into an embedded wiki that enabled end-users with a searchable, self-help wiki to find answers to common questions and overcome product workflow friction.

The content in this tutorial is limited to the execution of the specific task itself, without explaining what the software does or what a user needs to get themselves set up with an account. It uses screenshots to give users more accurate context along with a visible mouse cursor to highlight clicks.

To overcome this challenge, AbleTo used Whatfix to create in-app user guides for its mental health providers to help onboard them to the system, provide a self-help support system for AbleTo-related product questions, and meet evolving customer demand.

In the months following its Whatfix implementation, AbleTo improved its physician onboarding time, reduced provider churn, and grew its network of doctors. It launched in-app smart tips and pop-ups that have been engaged with more than 500k times in the first six months of launch.

With Whatfix, Marketboomer was able to create in-app user guides for multiple types of customers (buyers like hotels and clubs, as well as suppliers like wholesalers), as well as in-app guidance and support for different types of end-users (like CFOs, AEs, or hotel managers). Each required contextual guidance depending on the intended business outcomes, the language preference, and the level of technical expertise.

It provides its users with an embedded self-support wiki on its website, starting with its log-in page, that provides contextual support for new and returning parents and students on how to use its platform.

If a user appears to be having trouble (.ie on the page for a long period or begins to click around the page) a popup appears with a tip to discourage existing parents and students from creating duplicate accounts.

User guides must be accessible to as many users as possible, regardless of their product proficiency levels or industry expertise. Clear copy and short sentences without technical or industry jargon increase readability and comprehension, helping your users solve problems faster and become more confident.

With in-app guidance, you can be more strategic with your user guides and proactively nudge customers toward them at the right points in your product journey. Unlike traditional guides where users would have to take the initiative in seeking out support, in-app guidance lets organizations use behavioral data to predict user frustration and address them early.

Whatfix provides products with a no-code editor to create and launch on-brand in-app guidance, such as product tours, step-by-step flows, onboarding checklists, tooltips, pop-up windows, field validations, and more.

You can use its suite of editing tools to create a branded knowledge base website with your website domain, build a searchable knowledge center homepage, and provides advanced search analytics and capabilities. The platform allows content editors to write its user guides with Word-style editing or using markdown for code-centric documents.

Adobe Framemaker to a software documentation tool used to create and public technical documentation and user guides. The tool specializes in creating an environment for long structured or unstructured content, making it a good choice for guides like software specifications, API documentation, assembly instructions, and safety manuals.

With a no-code content editor, various engaging content formats, and rich analytics features, Whatfix helps you accelerate onboarding and training programs so your users can start creating value with their technology stack.

We all know that person that instinctively tosses the user manual out with the packaging without so much as a second glance. Some of us are that person. However, if you follow the process laid out in this blog, the user manuals you create will turn those user guide tossers into devoted readers in no time.

A user manual goes by many names. You may hear terms like instruction manual, user guide, maintenance manual, or technical documentation but they all mean the same thing. A user manual is designed for an end user to use your product or service properly or to find solutions to problems that arise through use. They can be provided in either print or digital format or both!

Use manuals contain detailed, step-by-step instructions for the end user and also allow for some support in troubleshooting. They are not meant to be read from cover to cover, but as reference books, so a table of contents should always be included in a user manual.

A user manual equips people to solve problems without having to seek outside help. In our instant gratification driven society, it is important to provide your patrons with the tools to quickly and efficiently get the benefit they want from your product or service, and a good user manual can accomplish just that!

Instead of exclusively organizing complicated in-person training sessions, which carry high costs in both time and money, your business can utilize user manuals to help new employees work through some of the processes and systems that are part of their new jobs. This can mean that there are fewer productive hours lost during onboarding, as employees are able to learn while completing the tasks associated with their jobs thanks to the user manuals.

By providing easy access to a searchable user guide for your customers you increase their ability to access solutions in the moment and reduce the necessity to reach out for specific support from a technician or representative.

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