Software Documentationsoftware documentation - computer

Do your clients need to find answers to your products and want to find them on their own – when they need to, not when your customer support center is open?  Software documentation online help is a great option to provide to them.  In this example, the client wanted to ensure their customers had access to both a printed version and an online version.  It was costly for the client to print manuals and send them to the customer.  Also, frequent enhancements to the product would make keeping a paper copy current a
challenge.

Since the client used the software on their retail floor, the client wanted to have small video segments available, but without sound.

Since the software documentation would only be used from PCs, the client preferred to a more traditional look and feel for the online help.  This version is not responsive for a mobile solution, but it could easily be converted if the needs changed over time.

Solutions Provided

With one source document, we can provide an online version where the clients can view step-by-steps.  We made the printable version available from the home page of the software documentation online help.  Having a printable option enabled their customers to print the documentation if they preferred to have a printed option.

You can view a sample of the online help here:  Sample Non-Responsive Online Help

To see the sample of the software documentation in printed format you can see it here:  Printed Version

The short videos provide a visual step for the user to proceed through the software documentation.  You can view a sample here:  Sample Video No Audio

Development Process

The client didn’t have a starting point for their documentation.  We utilized technical product requirements documents and revised the content to be end-user friendly.  The client’s subject-matter-experts provided input and editing to ensure the content written was accurate.  The material was tested with an end-user group before rollout to ensure the usability of the content was in line with the client’s objectives.

print-documentTimeframe for Development

Since we started with no existing end-user documents and needed screenshots of all of the content, the initial draft took longer.  In total, we developed the content and went through the review cycles within a month.  The end-user testing was a few months, and we made small revisions before the client went live with the content.

Results

As a result of the Software Documentation, the client found a reduction in customer support calls by 35 percent.  These results improved over time.