User Manual Critique
User Manual Critique
ENG/221
User Manual Critique Almost every product out in the market today comes with a user manual when you buy it. User manuals are very useful to the customer and the manufacturer. They allow the customer to see how to maintain their purchase and it allows the manufacturer to include instructions for many problems the customer may encounter, which will allow the manufacturer to save money on extra customer service representatives. Along with that, it allows the manufacturer to include safety warnings which will greatly reduce the number of injuries and lawsuits, saving them money in the long run. With every different company, there is potentially a different way of writing a user manual. Some will be better than others, but no matter how well written, there is bound to be something missing. This critique will regard the Acer Aspire 5600U user manual. The criteria with which this manual will be judged with will be clarity, complexity of terminology, completeness, usefulness, and ease of use. Clarity is important, because if a user cannot easily find something they are looking for, they will end up assuming that the manual does not contain anything else that they need. Clarity can be thought of as many things, but for the sake of this critique, it will be addressing the setup of the manual. This manual does contain a table of contents which does make the manual accessible to the user. A person is able to look up the particular issue they are trying to address. It addresses issues that are common to the everyday use of the computer. The manual begins with the setup of the computer, which is what a novice will look at to begin with. A novice can be considered as a complete beginner, who has never bought a computer before. These are the people that should be taken into consideration when writing a manual. If a person is not a novice, they are much less likely to
ENG/221
User Manual Critique Almost every product out in the market today comes with a user manual when you buy it. User manuals are very useful to the customer and the manufacturer. They allow the customer to see how to maintain their purchase and it allows the manufacturer to include instructions for many problems the customer may encounter, which will allow the manufacturer to save money on extra customer service representatives. Along with that, it allows the manufacturer to include safety warnings which will greatly reduce the number of injuries and lawsuits, saving them money in the long run. With every different company, there is potentially a different way of writing a user manual. Some will be better than others, but no matter how well written, there is bound to be something missing. This critique will regard the Acer Aspire 5600U user manual. The criteria with which this manual will be judged with will be clarity, complexity of terminology, completeness, usefulness, and ease of use. Clarity is important, because if a user cannot easily find something they are looking for, they will end up assuming that the manual does not contain anything else that they need. Clarity can be thought of as many things, but for the sake of this critique, it will be addressing the setup of the manual. This manual does contain a table of contents which does make the manual accessible to the user. A person is able to look up the particular issue they are trying to address. It addresses issues that are common to the everyday use of the computer. The manual begins with the setup of the computer, which is what a novice will look at to begin with. A novice can be considered as a complete beginner, who has never bought a computer before. These are the people that should be taken into consideration when writing a manual. If a person is not a novice, they are much less likely to
References: Acer Corporation. (2012). Acer System User Guide. : Acer Corporation. Dobrin, S. I., Keller, C. J., & Weisser, C. R. (2010). Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Gerson, S. J., & Gerson, S. M. (2012). Technical Communication (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Safemaunals - Find your user manual. (2012). Retrieved from http://safemanuals.com