Tip of the month from
PRC
October 1996
"What
is what" images
We accept Mastercard/Eurocard/Maestro/JBC and Visa!
Minor revision (on colour photos)
1 February 2002
Tip of the month is edited by Peter Ring, PRC (Peter
Ring Consultants, Denmark)
- consultants on how to write
user friendly manuals
Use preferably
a drawing, not a photo!
- Photos most often include
too many irrelevant details.
- The arrow lines are often
more difficult to see on a photo.
-- but if you use a photo, it's
acceptable if it's printed in colour.
The text should
include ...
- The name of the item, e.g.
"POWER button".
- An explanation of its function,
e.g. "In: power ON, Out: power OFF."
- A short explanation of its
use, or a reference to where in the manual it is explained.
To number or
not to number ...
- Directly
texted items:
- Definition: Each item,
e.g. a button, is explained with a short text. There is a line or arrow from
the text to the item.
- Only in case you don't need
to refer to the items elsewhere in the manual, e.g. because the manual is
very short.
- Do not include the text
in the images if the manual may be translated to other languages.
- Numbered
references:
- Definition: Each item,
e.g. a button, is identified by a reference number. There is a line or arrow
from the reference number to the item.
- The image must be viewable
from the text. Use e.g. a flap on the binding of the manual, or a fold-out
page.
- Always use consecutive numbers,
either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
- If your text editor permits
it, or you use DTP, you can put the arrow lines and the numbers in the text
editor / DTP programme. This may make the graphic smaller, if embedded in
the document file.
- Unused numbers should be
avoided, but is acceptable in case you have many similar products, where
a button is missing in some of the models, and you use a common text. However,
by using bookmarked numbers (another good reason to have the numbers in the
document and not on the graphic) you can renumber freely. If a number is
unused, consider including it in the text as "not used" or "omitted".
- If you don't need numbers
above 10, you can use Windings ASCII 128-138 (or 139 to 149) for the numbers
0 to 10 in a circle.
If you disagree
with these ideas - or have other relevant points or ideas +/-, please
e-mail me
!
Ideas for "Tip of the month" subjects are welcome, too!
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