Tip of the month from PRC
September 1996 

Types of manuals 
and some typical problems



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Tip of the month is edited by Peter Ring, PRC (Peter Ring Consultants, Denmark)

- consultants on how to write user friendly manuals

The 4 levels and 3 types of manuals

Basically, there are 4 user levels for technical documentation:
  1. The normal end user.
  2. The super-user.
  3. The service(wo)man / application programmer.
  4. The engineering department.
The 3 first levels are the real users of manuals (or whatever they are called).

The last level - the engineering department - only use the documentation to keep record over what they have done and why. The purpose is typically input to the technical writers of the user documentation, making it possible to improve the product later on without disturbing the remaining functions, and making the next designs easier.

For each of the 3 real user levels there are in principle 3 different type of manuals, with each its own purpose. For simple products they are often more or less integrated or unnecessary.

  1. The guiding and/or tutoring manual. Purpose: to teach the user how to (install,) use (and deinstall) the product on the users level. The guide sections aims at guiding the user through a procedure, but not necessarily remember it, e.g. the installation procedure. The tutoring sections aims at making the user understand the product and learn how to use it completely, or guided by the details in the reference manual(s).
  2. The reference manual. Purpose: to give all the details about each function of the product. For a simple product on the user level it is typically the "What is What" section. For a complicated product on the service(wo)man level, it typically includes blueprints, diagrams, partlists, etc.
  3. The shortform reference manual. Purpose: to work as a "brain prosthesis" for the user on the most frequent or normal procedures. Example: How to set a video to start recording on a certain TV channel at a certain time.

Typical problems with type of manual

When making a manual, which integrates two or more of these 9 basic types of real user manuals, I have often seen some classical problems, you should think about:


If you disagree with these ideas - or have other relevant points or ideas +/-, please write me !
Ideas for "Tip of the month" subjects are welcome, too!


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