Handbooks and manuals are instructional documents that educate customers or staff members about products or services. They are comprehensive documents consisting of everything the reader needs to know about the subject they address; therefore, they must be written in an easy-to-understand language. There are three major things that need to be kept in mind while drafting handbooks and manuals.

1. Information

The content of the manual and handbook needs to be strictly informative. Remember that this is the go-to document for a reader to know all there is to know about the organisation, product or the service. After reading or consulting the manual or handbook, the reader should fully understand the subject from the information provided.

2. Design and structure

“The design and structure of a handbook and manual can make the crucial difference in its effectiveness. If the contents of the manual are not ordered appropriately and if the design is ineffective, it will fail to do its job” explains Chris Duvall, Senior Technical Writer at Madrigal Communications in NSW.

3. Distinguishing between marketing and informing

Expert technical writers should be able to differentiate between marketing the product or service in the manual and informing the reader about the features.

“It is important to remember that anyone who is reading the manual or handbook has probably already purchased the product or just wants to know more about it before finalising the deal. Therefore, it’s important that you just do the job of informing your reader and not try to promote your product or service”, says Duvall.

Duvall concludes by saying that apart from good content and design, one of the most important elements of a manual or handbook is transparency and correct representation of the product. A manual should be as honest and clear as possible because it also has to maintain the brand’s image.

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