Can user scenarios and topic based writing be used in user documentation? Can they be used in the same document? Debate it!

1. Right brain vs Left brain
User Scenarios and TBW:

2. Hello!
I AM
Laura
Novich
I am here because I love
to tell stories.
You can find me at:
lsnovich@gmail.com

3. ““The greatest art in the world is the art
of storytelling
~Cecile B. DeMille

4. Let’s start with the user

7. Does anyone read the manual?
Study says 64% of men and 24% of women don’t even read
the manual before calling tech support ~ Gadget Helpline
Why Don’t People Read the Manual? by David G. Novick and Karen Ward
28%
28%3%
30%
11%
When faced with a problem using
software what do users do?
Called Support Used Online Help Used Printed Manual
Solved w/No Help Gave Up

8. Really? No one reads the manual?

9. Question
How many of you use user stories
or scenarios in your
documentation?

10. User Stories
“User Stories provide us with a way to have just enough
written down that we don’t forget…” Mike Cohn, User Stories Applied

11. User Stories – Right Brain
◎ Used in Agile software development
methodology
◎ They describe the feature from the user’s
perspective
◎ Help developers remember who they are
developing for
◎ They describe:
Who the user is
What they want
Why they want it

12. User Scenarios
◎ Longer than user stories
◎ Use a user persona to describe the user’s
action
◎ Contain much more detail than user stories
◎ Written in prose
◎ Used in training manuals

13. Fact
Customers who can
identify themselves in
your messaging will be
more loyal
Fact
Customers who can
identify themselves in
your documentation
will remember more
Why should you consider it?
Fact
Loyal customers will
recommend you to their
friends, buy more
products, and will even
be willing to spend a bit
more because of their
loyalty.
Shouldn’t your docs be
part of this strategy?

14. How is this done?
◎ Think about a
specific user cohort
◎ Write as if you were
writing about their
needs and wants.
◎ Use these to help
create your
examples in your
documentation.
◎ Edit, edit, edit until
the messaging is
right.

15. Some Examples
Maria, (married, 25) is a busy business analyst. She wants
to plan a vacation late at night, after work and while she
is walking her dog. She wants to order everything on her
smart phone: tickets, car, and a dog- friendly hotel. She
wants to know that others have gone to the places she
wants to stay in / go to and wants to only go to places
that are recommended. She wants to be able to book
her entire trip in 10 minutes or less and she wants to be
able to book something up to a year in advance.
Bill, (retired, 75) is starting to forget basic details.
His family is very concerned. Bill wants to retain his
personal dignity. He needs to remember to take his
medication. His family is worried he will not
remember or will accidentally overdose. They
want to give him some freedom but want to be
able to monitor him when they are not around.
They also want to monitor Bill’s care giver and
make sure she is helping Bill.

16. Example with a procedure
Maria, a young account manager is booking a ski trip (flight, hotel, and car)
to Lake Tahoe with her husband. She decides to use the Expedia website to
book her trip, because she heard from a friend it was easy to use and that
she could make a user profile to assist her in future trips. She was also
interested in collecting miles for her travel purhases.
After navigating to www.expedia.com, Maria does the following:
1. As Maria wants a car, flight and hotel, she clicks Bundle deals and
chooses Flight+Car+Hotel
2. She enters her departing city, destination city, the dates for her trip,
number of passengers, and clicks Search.
3. She selects the hotel, flight, and car details, and selects continue to pay
for her trip.
4. She enters her personal information, billing information and email and
when she clicks Confirm the transaction takes place and Maria receives
tickets and vouchers in her email.
Of course this scenario can be delivered as print, or enhanced with a video.

17. Sysaid

18. Question
How many of you use topic based
writing?

19. Topic Based Writing – left brain
◎ Highly structured, modular, dynamic content
◎ Consistent throughout the entire manual
◎ Content blocks are connected as needed.
◎ Can be used and reused across different
content registers, genres, and products
Register – Technical Manuals, Marketing Brochures,
Sales Kits, Knowledge Base Articles
Outputs – HTML, PDF, Epub, help, Wiki, Twitter
Across products – Versions, Expertise, OEM, etc.
*CMS may be required

20. Fact
Customers appreciate
eliminating all the
“fluff”
Fact
Customers can’t
remember so many
details (7 +/- 2) so
keeping it short helps
them remember.
Why should you consider TBW?
Fact
Modular content allows
customers to create
content on demand.
Fact
Re-use lowers the need
for maintenance and
allows your writers to
write! It keeps the
apples with the apples.
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writng”
~Benjamin Franklin

21. ◎ REFERENCE
Example
◎ TASK
How to peel an orange:
1. Score the peel with a knife
or citrus peeler.
2. Remove peel and pith by
pulling in a downward
motion. Throw them in the
garbage / compost pile.
3. Eat and enjoy!
Related Topics
Health benefits for oranges

22. Question
Can TBW and User Scenarios
co-exist in the same document?
“It’s all about coexistence. Video didn’t kill the radio star after all.” ~ Ashley Highfield

23. Pros for Scenarios
1. People identify
with stories about
people.
2. Stories envoke
passion, empathy,
and identification
3. Promotes
learning and
long term
commitment.
Cons for Scenarios
1. People don’t want to waste their
time with stories
2. Stories create more blah blah
that people don’t want to read
3. This extra blah blah can make
people angry
Pros for TBW
1. Straight to
the point.
2. Structure is
logical and
highly
predictable.
3. Easy to
assemble,
create, and
maintain
Cons for TBW
1. People want to connect to
what they read
2. Topics when stripped of
content can become too
sterile, dry, and boring
Pros & Cons

24. Debate it!
Consider if you should change
your documentation strategy in
either direction. Would you?

25. thanks!
ANY
QUESTIONS?
You can find me at:
lsnovich@gmail.com

26. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free:
◎ Simple line icons by Mirko Monti
◎ E-commerce icons by Virgil Pana
◎ Streamline iconset by Webalys
◎ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
◎ Photographs by Unsplash & Death to the Stock Photo (license)
◎ Dark wood background by The pattern library
Other sources
◎ Why People Don’t Read the Manual http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1166329 /
http://digitalcommons.utep.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=cs_papers
◎ “The Manual” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnqbAsAA0U8
◎ Assorted Graphics and pictures:
http://informed.s3.amazonaws.com/informed/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/history-storytelling-quote.png
http://cdn2.mommyish.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/shutterstock_158087222.jpg
http://www.assistedlivingtechnologies.com/medication-dispensing/68-medminder-jon-alert.html
http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2013/07/22/100904809-expedia_r.1910x1000.jpg
http://www.go-gulf.com/wp-content/themes/go-gulf/blog/60seconds.jpg
https://ihumanmedia.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/time-spent-by-media-per-day-ihumanmedia-com-tel-615-678-90921.jpg
http://theberry.com/2012/11/08/take-a-berry-break-40-photos-276/#
http://www.saeon.ac.za/enewsletter/archives/2013/june2013/doc02
http://www.kitchenworksinc.com/Plastic-Citrus-
Peeler__677931.aspx?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bing%20Shopping&utm_term=1101002596133&utm_content=All%20Products
http://idratherbewriting.com/2012/07/31/misconceptions-about-topic-based-authoring/

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