I run a technical writing department, and I hate getting a bad set of instructions. I once had a boss that actually rewrote the instructions and sent it back to the manufacturer. They offered her a job! I have two rules for my writers – 1) Keep it short and simple when possible (we write medical device manuals, so that isn’t always possible) and 2) Write it so that anyone who follows the instructions step by step, even if they are not an expert, will have no problem getting the correct results. I also make them all sit at an instrument and follow along, because that helps them accomplish #2. I don’t require them to be experts in the field we work in when I hire them. I actually find it detrimental. They just need to know how to write and spell!As for no longer getting a printed manual – that’s because it saves the company hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. We saved roughly $2 million the first year we stopped printing. And those other languages are there, because it’s a requirement in some countries to provide translated documentation (depends on the type of product). More than you all wanted to know about those instructions, huh? ;)
I run a technical writing department, and I hate getting a bad set of instructions. I once had a boss that actually rewrote the instructions and sent it back to the manufacturer. They offered her a job! I have two rules for my writers – 1) Keep it short and simple when possible (we write medical device manuals, so that isn’t always possible) and 2) Write it so that anyone who follows the instructions step by step, even if they are not an expert, will have no problem getting the correct results. I also make them all sit at an instrument and follow along, because that helps them accomplish #2. I don’t require them to be experts in the field we work in when I hire them. I actually find it detrimental. They just need to know how to write and spell!As for no longer getting a printed manual – that’s because it saves the company hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. We saved roughly $2 million the first year we stopped printing. And those other languages are there, because it’s a requirement in some countries to provide translated documentation (depends on the type of product). More than you all wanted to know about those instructions, huh? ;)