In this article, you may find the explanation of the difference between a reference guide, procedural manual and some other formats of technical documentation. Going deeper into the topic, there are two main types of user guides: functional manual and procedural guide. A user manual generally is used by our customers to find out what features/functions are available and how to use them. Generally, user manuals explain each screen and field. A training manual is written a bit different and may have exercises for the user to complete.
Let’s say you’re setting up a new Tech Docs Dept. You need to create new guidelines, style guides and naming conventions. Should you call the user ‘documents’ User Guides or User Manuals? Which one is Right?
I was asked this question by a colleague in India who is setting up a Technical Publishing Dept in Bangalore. He wants to go with user guide—me too, actually.
- When I worked in the UK, it was (mostly) referred to as a User Manual.
- Whereas in the US, it was a User Guide. I think the Americans (and me!) like things to be short and to the point. Guide is just that little bit quicker to write, especially when you’re creating MS Word templates.
Saying that, there is no right and wrong, but I did a little fact finding first.
What Google says about User Guides
I searched Google and came up with these results.
- 15,600,000 for “user guide”
- 10,700,000 for “user manual”
- 5,210,000 for “user’s guide”
What surprised me here was that User’s Guide was so widely used. I’ve always found this a bit annoying. I just don’t like apostrophes, I guess.
Top 5 Most Popular User Guides
A quick check on the most popular user guides showed the following. Not what I expected.
- Google Earth User Guide – http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/
- iPhone User s Guide – http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iphone_user_guide.pdf
- Patron User Guide – www.ebrary.com/corp/…/en/User_Guide/ebrary_Patron_User_Guide.pdf
- Adobe Reader Help – www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdfs/acrruserguide.pdf
- User Guide Tutorial – www.klariti.com/technical…/User-Guides-Tutorial.shtml
IBM Technical Documents
Next, I checked IBM and Microsoft to see what term they used.
- 15,324 for user guide
- 1,047 for user manual
So, they prefer user guide. Though, you’d think they’d make this mandatory. Of course, it’s not easy when you have offices in every corner of the world, so let’s cut them some slack.
Microsoft prefers User Guides too
The folks are Redmond were more consistent with
- 1.8 million for User Guides and only
- 73k for User Manuals
And, to be fair, many of the user manuals were actually guides when I checked. Someone check that search engine!
Is Apple different?
Yes, of course.
Apple prefers the term User’s Guide. Like I said, I never bought into this. I prefer short, snappy titles. We don’t call them System Administrator’s Guide, do we?
Well, of course, some do.
7 Things to consider when naming your documents
- Avoid obscure or unique terms for your documents. Use industry standard terminology.
- Ask your target audience what they expect.
- Create a Style Guide or adopt one, e.g. the Microsoft or IBM style guide.
- Develop a naming convention, e.g. a structure approach so that all documents are named, filed, and indexed correctly.
- Develop a numbering convention. Show people how to number documents, for example, when to go from 1.1 to 1.2 and when to go from 1.2 to 2.0.
- Be consistent.
- Be patient when they get it wrong.
My career really began to take off when I saw myself as an ‘enabler’ rather than a writer. My identity of who I was changed from a guy who cranked out docs to someone who helps others get their projects done.
People want to learn, do your best to help them get there.
Difference Between User Guide And User Manual Download
What do you think? What’s the most practical way to name documents and setup a new Technical Writing Dept?
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A user guide, also commonly called a technical communication document or manual, is intended to give assistance to people using a particular system.[1] It is usually written by a technical writer, although user guides are written by programmers, product or project managers, or other technical staff, particularly in smaller companies.[2]
User guides are most commonly associated with electronic goods, computer hardware and software, although they can be written for any product.[3]
Most user guides contain both a written guide and associated images. In the case of computer applications, it is usual to include screenshots of the human-machine interface(s), and hardware manuals often include clear, simplified diagrams. The language used is matched to the intended audience, with jargon kept to a minimum or explained thoroughly.
Contents of a user manual[edit]
The sections of a user manual often include:
- A cover page
- A title page and copyright page
- A preface, containing details of related documents and information on how to navigate the user guide
- A contents page
- A Purpose section. This should be an overview rather than detail the objective of the document
- An Audience section to explicitly state who is not as well as who is required to read, including optionals
- A Scope section is crucial as it also serves as a disclaimer, stating what is out-of-scope as well as what is covered
- A guide on how to use at least the main function of the system
- A troubleshooting section detailing possible errors or problems that may occur, along with how to fix them
- A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
- Where to find further help, and contact details
- A glossary and, for larger documents, an index
History[edit]
User guides have been found with ancient devices. One example is the Antikythera Mechanism[4], a 2,000 year old Greek analogue computer that was found off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in the year 1900. On the cover of this device are passages of text which describe the features and operation of the mechanism.
As the software industry was developing, the question of how to best document software programs was undecided. This was a unique problem for software developers, since users often became frustrated with current help documents[5]. Some considerations for writing a user guide that developed at this time include:
- the use of plain language[5]
- length and reading difficulty[5]
- the role of printed user guides for digital programs[6]
- user-centered design[6]
Computer software manuals and guides[edit]
User manuals and user guides for most non-trivial software applications are book-like documents with contents similar to the above list. They may be distributed either in print or electronically. Some documents have a more fluid structure with many internal links. The Google Earth User Guide[7] is an example of this format. The term guide is often applied to a document that addresses a specific aspect of a software product. Some usages are Installation Guide, Getting Started Guide, and various How to guides. An example is the Picasa Getting Started Guide.[8]
In some business software applications, where groups of users have access to only a sub-set of the application's full functionality, a user guide may be prepared for each group. An example of this approach is the Autodesk Topobase 2010 Help[9] document, which contains separate Administrator Guides, User Guides, and a Developer's Guide.
References[edit]
- ^'Online Technical Writing: User Guides'. hcexres@io.com. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^Gary Blake and Robert W. Bly, The Elements of Technical Writing, pg. 143. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1993. ISBN0020130856
- ^'Manuals Brain - all useful manuals at one place!'. manualsbrain.com. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
- ^'Boffins decipher manual for 2,000-year-old Ancient Greek computer'. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ abcChafin, Roy (January 1982). 'User Manuals: What Does the User Really Need?'. SIGDOC '82 Proceedings of the 1st annual international conference on systems documentation: 36–39 – via ACM Digital Library.
- ^ abMcKee, John (August 1986). 'Computer User Manuals in Print: Do They Have a Future?'. ACM SIGDOC Asterisk Journal of Computer Documentation. 12: 11–16 – via ACM Digital Library.
- ^'Google Earth User Guide'. Google. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^'Getting Started with Picasa: Getting Started Guide'. Google. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^'Autodesk Topobase 2010 Help'. Autodesk. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^Manualdevices - Free User Manual 'Manualdevices - Free User Manual ', Retrieved on 01 August 2019.