Writing Web Help
I have been working on online help for the past year. When it started I was overawed at the size of the product and the documentation we had to prepare. But I learnt a lot on my way. Here are some tips that you might find useful
- Users don’t read text on browsers. They scan. So highlight keywords, action words (‘do this, do that’)
- Cut down 50% of what you have written. Brevity can’t be stressed enough. Please remember that reading speed on a computer screen decreases by about 20-25%
- Write in active voice
- Write ‘action first. Effect later’ (example: Click ‘OK’. To go to the homepage. AND NOT ‘To go to the homepage click ‘OK’)
- Write to a singular audience: Imagine that the user is sitting infront of you and you’re telling him/her how to perform a task. People don’t use your software in groups
- Iterative document design:Build a prototype. Test in on users. Build. Test. Build Test… of what value your documenation is if it doesn’t help me in performing tasks? I can’t take it to bed to read it like a novel!
