We can't all give our customers instructions using just pictures (like IKEA), but there are still ways that we can bring better visual communication into our product documentation. Here are the 3 ways, and the first way actually helps you and your team, too.

1. BEN CROTHERS
design strategist @bencrothers
1
Software instructions
by IKEA?
Making your docs more visual

2. 2
CÖMPLEXXImagine if software
documentation was like
IKEA instructions, with
no words?
That’s probably going
too far! But there are
more ways we can use
visuals in our
documentation.
Apologies to IKEA!

3. 3
20 years in digital design,
design strategy, and
design education
I’m writing a book about
simple sketching for
better product thinking
and design:
prestosketching.com
About me

4. Screenshots and online videos are great…
wistia.com

5. 1
Helping you plan the
instructional design
2
Helping your readers
connect their mental
model to your model
3
Helping your readers
understand what to do
…But visuals can be used in other ways

6. 1. Helping you plan the instructional design
Whatever product or system you’re writing documentation for,
people reading it go through a ‘mental journey’ of learning,
understanding, and applying that documentation
You can use simple storyboarding to help you plan out your
documentation according to how people learn
Check that they
understand underlying
concepts
Explain the steps
needed to do the thing
Give them a way
to check that they
did it right

7. Gain their
attention
Inform them of
objectives
Stimulate recall
of prior learning
Present distinctive
features
Provide the
guidance
Elicit their
performance
Provide
feedback
Assess
performance
Enhance
retention
1. Helping you plan the instructional design
From Robert Gagné’s 9 events of instruction

8. 1. Helping you plan the instructional design
Enter from a search engine Objectives Prior knowledge Orientation
Read the
instructions
Use links to
product areas
Check that I’ve
done it right
More
information

9. 1. Helping you plan the instructional design

10. 2. Connecting their mental model
The people reading your
documentation have a head
full of work to do, people to talk
to, things to remember, and so
on.
They have a ‘mental model’ of
their work in mind. How does
that compare to the way your
system is presented?

11. 2. Connecting their mental model

12. 2. Connecting their mental model
Think about (and draw!) your
system in terms of real world
objects, and how they relate to
each other.
Then use this as a way to
graphically show your readers
how their way of thinking
matches your system.

13. 2. Connecting their mental model

14. 3. Helping them understand what to do
People tend to have a ‘map’ (right or wrong) in their heads about
conceptually where all the things are located in your system
Examples:
• Administration section
• Tasks ‘live in’ projects
We can help them orient where they are with a visualisation of
that ‘map’ in our documentation

15. 3. Helping them understand what to do

16. 3. Helping them understand what to do

17. BEN CROTHERS
design strategist @bencrothers @prestosketching
17
Thank you