Perhaps no area of communication has been more radically changed by the advances of computer technology than that of graphics. Although the computer has
Figure 5.22 Illustration using numbers to call out part names. Using numbers to call out parts requires the reader to go through an extra step, but allows more information to be included in a single illustration and simplifies translation. (From Owner’s Man-ual, Suzuki VS1400GL, American Suzuki Motor Corporation, Brea, CA, 1997, p. 10. With permission.)
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made text production much easier, the text itself hasn’t really changed all that much:
we still use typefaces invented in the 19th century (or earlier) and produce columns of text that look quite similar to those of a century ago. Graphics, on the other hand, have undergone a transformation.
Videotapes are widely used in industry as training aids in a variety of areas.
Instructional videos that demonstrate how to set up or operate products sometimes accompany the manual. The laptop computer has made CD-ROM a practical alternative to bulky manuals for storing reference material such as parts catalogs. The devel-opment of the Internet has allowed manufacturers to put some of their documentation online — even for noncomputer products. All three of these media have their uses, but none is a total substitute for a written manual, and all require expertise to design well.
Videotapes
The obvious advantage of a videotape is that the viewer can actually watch a procedure being performed by an expert. It can be the next best thing to the “expert-in-residence” that we discussed at the beginning of this chapter. A viewer of a videotape does not need to be literate or skilled in interpreting technical drawings.
On the other hand, the videotape requires that the user have the appropriate equipment to view it. Further, unlike a paper manual, the user cannot easily “leaf through” a tape. For these reasons, we find that videotapes are most useful as training tools for service technicians or as supplements for one-time use, as in showing how to set up a product for operation.
To work well, videos must be carefully planned and produced — and these are not simple tasks. Developing a good videotape means putting a great deal of time into designing it and finding skilled technicians to shoot and edit the tape. Videotapes produced by amateurs look like home movies and almost always present information much too fast. If your company is thinking of using videos, it is well worth the investment to contract with professionals unless you already have the skills in-house.
Do-it-yourself videos are usually much less effective than a well-written manual.
CD-ROM
A compact disk can hold enormous quantities of information in a very compact form. An entire encyclopedia, for example, can fit on one CD-ROM. CDs are tremendous space savers, especially for people who have to travel. A service repre-sentative, for example, who travels to various locations to provide service for indus-trial machinery, may need a good deal of reference information when out in the field. It is much easier to carry a laptop and one or two CDs than to lug along a whole library of reference books. When prices change, or models are redesigned, it’s easier to send the customer a replacement CD than to revise and reprint a manual.
The major drawback, of course, is that, like videos, the user must have the appropriate equipment to use the CD. A laptop with a dead battery is useless unless there is a handy source of electricity nearby. CD-ROMs are read-only media, and that makes it difficult to make notations, as you might do in the margins of a standard
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book. Newer CDs allow the user to write on them as well, but these are not yet in wide use.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to widespread use of CDs to substitute for paper manuals is the conditions under which manuals may need to be used. The dirty, dusty environment of a gravel separator would be very hard on a laptop computer.
The tractor that needs to be fixed may be sitting in bright sunlight or in a dim machine shed — conditions that would make it difficult to see a computer screen.
Web Pages
In just a few years, the Internet has grown from an arcane idea of a handful of university scholars to an everyday presence for millions of people. Increasingly, manufacturers are using the Internet as a marketing tool, and some are relying on it for documentation for products. Online documentation can take advantage of hypertext — the ability of the user to mouse-click a word and instantly be given a screenful of linked, related information. Documents can, in essence, be arranged in whatever order the reader prefers. In addition, the reader can be taken, by hyperlink, not only to other pages, but to entire other documents for information. The possi-bilities are intriguing.
Updating online information is simple: the manufacturer just changes what’s on the server from its end, knowing that users will get the latest version each time they use the site.
To design an online document well takes considerable expertise. Entire books have been written about this issue alone. As with indexing, the best online documents are designed to make it easy for users to get around and find the information they need. Design takes skill and the ability to conceptualize extremely complex patterns of association.
Online documentation suffers from the same limitations as CD-ROM. The user has to have the proper equipment and an Internet connection to use it, which may make it less portable than a manual. After all, you can prop a book up on one corner of a machine while you work on a nearby area. If it slips off, you just pick it up, dust it off, and find your place again. A laptop computer is not quite so durable.
Advances in technology may make online documentation practical for a wide variety of products, but, so far, it lends itself primarily to software applications and related
“desktop” products.
SUMMARY
As with text production, advances in technology have made it easier for manual designers to produce high-quality graphics for their manuals. Because graphics are so important in manuals — both to communicate certain kinds of information and to reach users that find text problematic — good planning and design are essential.
Good planning means including graphics at the earliest stages of manual design, so that the graphics and the text function together as an integrated unit.
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Good design requires choosing the best type of graphic for the purpose at hand and making sure that the final product is readable and clear. Different kinds of graphics have different strengths: a photograph may be better than a drawing if realism is important, but a drawing may work better to highlight a detail. Whatever type is used, it must be designed as carefully as prose to show just the right information in a manner that is clear and easy to read.
We ended the chapter with a discussion of an emerging trend: uses of nontradi-tional visual media such as videotapes and Web pages to supplement (or in some cases, substitute for) manuals. These high-tech alternatives present some exciting possibilities, but it is unlikely that they will ever entirely replace the traditional paper manual for most products. Even if they do, skill in visual design will remain an important and developing area for document designers.
CHECKLIST
▫ Have I looked at my product with a “fresh eye” — as if I were a novice user — and identified where to use graphics to help convey information?
▫ Have I planned my graphics and text together?
▫ Have I used the best type of graphic (photograph, drawing, chart, table) for what I want to show?
▫ Are the photographs shot from the best angle? Retouched as needed?
▫ Are the drawings simple and uncluttered? Appropriate to the audience?
▫ In tables, are the data arranged vertically for easy comparison?
▫ Have I eliminated unnecessary lines from tables to reduce clutter?
▫ Are the graphics big enough to see easily?
▫ If I have reduced drawings, is any text still readable?
▫ Have I called out parts clearly? Is what each callout refers to obvious?
▫ Are the graphics properly referenced in the text and placed close to the relevant text?
▫ Do the graphics convey an impression of concern for the customer, by being clear, inviting, and easy to use?
FURTHER READING
Bethune, James D. Technical Illustration. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1983.
Cornsweet, Tom. Visual Perception. Academic Press, New York, 1970.
Jastrzebski, Zbigniew. Scientific Illustration. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1985.
Richardson, Graham T. Illustrations. Humana Press, Clifton, NJ, 1985.
Tufte, Edward R. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT, 1983.
Tufte, Edward R. Visual Explanations. Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT, 1997.
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© 1998 by CRC Press LLC
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