by: Dayren Santamaria January 29, 2022
Technical writers are responsible for creating important and useful documents. User manuals and quick start guides are two types of technical reporting. Quick start guides should be provided by the author creating a user manual, since these documents support each other. If users must choose between one of these types of technical reporting, they can evaluate and analyze the importance and circumstances of the occasion to choose wisely. Manuals provide detailed and explanatory information in a precise and concise manner, while quick start guides provide the basic information for the product to operate. Both reports are helpful and often evidently different (Laplante, 2018).
A manual is where the user will find the description of the main product, as well as the name and purpose of each tool, part, and accessory needed. An easy-to-understand document, with an appropriate font size, that is clear and correct is what is expected by users. Instructions, pictures, or drawings with precise steps can allow customers to successfully build and/or operate their goods. Quick start guides contain less information, and “consist of illustrations” (Manualise, 2017). Visual aids like sketches are the salient object in quick start guides. By looking at the pictures, users can follow the steps to successfully operate their products.
When the detailed information from the manuals is not needed or necessary, then users can take advantage of quick start guides. They are both important documents that guide us and protect us from hazardous situations. Employees that operate machines at a factory, would need a manual that can provide detailed instructions and safety tools to protect themselves as well as their environment. Customers that buy blenders would need a quick start guide, to assist them in placing the two or three parts together and connect it safely to the wall outlet. Technical writers do have a salient duty to deliver useful and well-written documents, while facilitating the jargon for non-technical users to fully comprehend the information.
References
Laplante, P. A. (2018). Technical writing: A practical guide for engineers, scientists, and nontechnical professionals, second edition. CRC Press LLC.
Manualise. (2017, November 3)Examples quick start guides. Manualise. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.manualise.com/en/examples-quick-start-guides/
Shutterstock. (n.d.). Instruction manual images, stock photos & vectors. Shutterstock. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.shutterstock.com/search/instruction+manual
University Information Technology. (2021, August 13). Semester quick-start guide. Semester Quick-Start Guide – University of Houston. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://uh.edu/infotech/help/quick-start-guides/student-quick-start/
Walsh, I. (2015, July 28). User guide VS user manual – which is right? Technical Writing Tools – Tips & Templates for Technical Writers. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.ihearttechnicalwriting.com/2010/01/04/user-guide-vs-user-manual-%E2%80%93-which-one-is-right/
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