Before You Start
Whether this is the first software manual you have ever created or you are a seasoned documentation pro, understanding a little about how ScreenSteps works will help you write documentation that gives you better results in less time.
Here are few key principles for working with ScreenSteps.
Talk About How, Not What
ScreenSteps is designed to help you focus most of your time on teaching tasks. Your users will find it much useful if you explain how to accomplish real world tasks with your application as opposed to explaining what all the screen are and what the buttons do.
If you start most of your articles with the title "How do I..." then you will find that your documentation will become much more task-based and more useful to your readers.
Create Content in Small Chunks
ScreenSteps is designed to create content in small chunks. We call them lessons. Instead of having a few long lessons, you should have many short lessons. Short lessons are easier to write and easier for your customers to read. A good rule to follow is to keep your lessons to somewhere between 5 and 15 steps. If they get longer than that then you should think about splitting the lesson up.
Remember - Users Won't Read Your Documentation, They Will Reference It
Users aren't going to read your documentation from beginning to end. They are going to reference it. That is another reason it is good to break up your documentation into small chunks. It makes it easy for your users to quickly scan your table of contents to find the information they need. It also makes it easier for you to point your users to the exact section of your documentation that will answer their question.
Don't Skimp on the Pictures
ScreenSteps is designed to help you add pictures to your documentation. Don't skimp! Take lots of pictures. This will add clarity to your documentation and your users will really appreciate it.
Add your comment