Objective

I created this user’s manual at the request of a group of software engineering students. They wanted to add a user’s manual to their capstone project to enhance their presentation. I later went back and updated the design of this manual to reflect my professional growth.

Tasks

• Interview software engineering (SWE) students to learn about their application and their fictitious company
• Collaborate with SWE students to create a professional identity and branding elements for their company
• Design a style guide based on company identity
• Write an outline for the manual
• Conduct further interviews throughout the writing process
• Request specific screenshots for certain steps
• Schedule weekly meetings for the SWE team to review and offer feedback or corrections
• Incorporate new features into the manual as the SWE team made changes
• Test the app to ensure the manual’s accuracy as well as provide user testing comments to improve the app

Process

After being commissioned by the SWE team to write this user’s manual, my first step was to sit down with them and interview them about their app and the fictitious company they’d created for it. During the interview, I collaborated with them to help them define and refine the professional identity they wanted to exude. We discussed branding elements and language choices. I used the information I gathered in this initial interview to create branding elements such as a color palette and logo as well as a style guide that included language elements.

In my second meeting with the SWE team, I presented the branding elements and style guide for their approval. A few changes were discussed and made. Then, we sat down together and went through their web application. It was still a low-fidelity prototype at that point, but I was able to capture a sense of what the final app would look like. From this, I was able to create an outline.

Over the course of several subsequent meetings and interviews with different team members, we went through the app step-by-step. I took notes on my outline that later allowed me to write out the specific instructions for each section. After I finished a section, I met with the SWE student responsible for that part of the app and we reviewed what I’d written for accuracy. They also answered any questions I had or explained additional details on the app’s function. At this point, I provided the SWE student with a list of screenshots I needed for the section and they sent them to me later.

Because the SWE students were making changes as they built out their app, I also had to incorporate new sections, write additional notes and details, and make changes to the user’s manual to reflect the final product. During this phase, I worked closely with the team to make sure all additions were being incorporated and all information was being updated correctly.

When the team finished their app, I tested it for them. I provided feedback on flow, usability, and user-centered design. This also allowed me to confirm that the instructions in the user’s manual accurately matched what users would find in the app.

Design

When I first met with the SWE group, they had the very beginnings of a user’s manual started. The design was, at that time, based on a template they were using. They also had some idea of how they wanted it to look, what color palette they wanted to use, and what they wanted their logo to look like. I worked with them to redesign the document away from its template-based look, narrow down their color palette, and create their logo.

Takeaways

Through this project, I learned a lot about collaborating with a client, meeting client expectations, and managing expectations. For example, some of the design and style choices the SWE students made were not necessarily choices I agreed with. However, this was their project and they were my client, so I had to find ways to incorporate elements they valued while producing quality writing and design. I also gained experience advocating for my ideas with a group that had different experiences and skills as well as communicating complex ideas about writing and design to justify my position.