kranky
Elite Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 21,014
- 138
- 106
It has to depend on what the thing is that they are writing about. Are there any legal disclaimers required for safety reasons? If it's software, will they need to have 10 pages of troubleshooting instructions, most of which would be hardware or OS issues unrelated to the actual product? What is the goal of the manual - to be a completely comprehensive reference, or a "quick start"? All those things would matter.
Reminded me of the time I once worked for a company who made machines that had to be maintained by the end user. Most of the items were custom-made to customer specifications and requirements, so we had to create custom manuals for how to maintain them. One customer would continually demand more and more information be added to the manual. It ended up that where our standard manual for that type of machine was 30 pages, this customer's manual was 290 pages. Everything you could possibly think of was in there, but it was unusable by the people who actually needed it. Too big to carry, too long to efficiently use on a laptop/tablet, too hard to find what you actually needed. A three-step process to fix a particular issue originally fit on one page, and for this customer it spanned 12.
Just for perspective, imagine a manual for a stapler that had refill instructions like this:
1. Position the stapler with the base resting on a stable, level surface away from any hazardous objects or liquids as described in Appendix C. If the surface is not at waist level or higher, then perform the remainder of these operations while seated in a chair that does not have wheels.
2. Numbers in parentheses refer to the exploded diagram in Section 1.
3. Secure a strip of (14) that is 3 inches long. Smaller strips may be used but the need to refill will be more frequent. A supply of (14) may be obtained from Community Provisions using the form in Appendix D.
4. Securing (3) with one hand and holding it securely to the stable, level surface, grasp the front of (9) with the other hand and with light force pivot it around (5) until it has rotated 180 degrees with respect to (3).
5 - 19. [Additional ridiculous verbiage, etc. etc.]
A half-hour later, you might have staples in the stapler.
Found out later that the reason they wanted these kinds of manuals was to make it easier to get rid of people if they wanted to, since there was nearly a 100% chance they didn't do something the way the manual directed them.
Reminded me of the time I once worked for a company who made machines that had to be maintained by the end user. Most of the items were custom-made to customer specifications and requirements, so we had to create custom manuals for how to maintain them. One customer would continually demand more and more information be added to the manual. It ended up that where our standard manual for that type of machine was 30 pages, this customer's manual was 290 pages. Everything you could possibly think of was in there, but it was unusable by the people who actually needed it. Too big to carry, too long to efficiently use on a laptop/tablet, too hard to find what you actually needed. A three-step process to fix a particular issue originally fit on one page, and for this customer it spanned 12.
Just for perspective, imagine a manual for a stapler that had refill instructions like this:
1. Position the stapler with the base resting on a stable, level surface away from any hazardous objects or liquids as described in Appendix C. If the surface is not at waist level or higher, then perform the remainder of these operations while seated in a chair that does not have wheels.
2. Numbers in parentheses refer to the exploded diagram in Section 1.
3. Secure a strip of (14) that is 3 inches long. Smaller strips may be used but the need to refill will be more frequent. A supply of (14) may be obtained from Community Provisions using the form in Appendix D.
4. Securing (3) with one hand and holding it securely to the stable, level surface, grasp the front of (9) with the other hand and with light force pivot it around (5) until it has rotated 180 degrees with respect to (3).
5 - 19. [Additional ridiculous verbiage, etc. etc.]
A half-hour later, you might have staples in the stapler.
Found out later that the reason they wanted these kinds of manuals was to make it easier to get rid of people if they wanted to, since there was nearly a 100% chance they didn't do something the way the manual directed them.
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