User manuals should be pretty straightforward — they are simply instructions for an end user on how to create, build, or use something. Recipes are class instruction manuals.
But they’re tricky! You have to include enough information and visuals so that someone can do what you intend them to do, but not so much that they’re overwhelmed.
And most importantly, you have to consider your audience — the user. Is this a technical manual meant for inhouse or external technical users and ongoing documentation? Or is it a straight instruction manual meant for a single use?
In this unit, you’ll get to create your own instruction manual, and it can be about anything! How to build a computer, how to build a Lego structure, how to do an engineering job… whatever you’re interested in or think you might be able to use in your career.
We’ll look at different kinds of manuals, from text-based to mostly visual, and depending on your audience, you can create whatever mode you think works best and that you can do in a couple of weeks. (Obviously this is not meant to be a complicated or exhaustive work!)
Here’s the procedure
Note: I’ll give you much more specific information about all of this in both the Schedule and the Announcements each week. This is just an overview.
- Look at what makes a good instruction/users manual.
- Play with writing simple instructions for each other to see what happens.
- Tell us what you want to write a manual for, for whom, and in what format.
- Post a rough draft to the Google Drive.
- Workshop for each other.
- Post a revised draft to the Google Drive after I give feedback.
