User Guide Creation

Tools Used: Microsoft Word, Snipping Tool, Microsoft Paint, Atlassian Confluence

Full Document Here

While working at Aventiv Technologies, I was responsible for creating and maintaining the Product User Guide for an in-development Jail Management System (JMS). This user guide needed to be web and print friendly, easily navigable, and written for a non-technical audience.

I started this project by creating a template document in Microsoft Word. This template set the header and footer, heading and regular text fonts, and margins and ensured document consistency. I used a san-serif font for the web version of the User Guide, as it provides better readability on screens and it mirrors the font used in the product. 

I matched the formatting of the User Guide with the three-tiered design of the JMS, with collapsible sections that match the navigation of the program to provide a similar user experience for both.

As a strong believer of showing and telling, I collected a lot of screenshots with screen capture software and edited them to provide visual instructions on using the software.

I supplemented the screenshots with written instructions and descriptions of input fields that are related to the task.

I also performed informal usability tests for these instructions by passing only the screenshots to other team members, asking them to complete a task, and verifying task completion.

Improvement Opportunities

Accessibility could be improved in the document by providing alt-text for each of the images for people who may be using screen readers.

An alternative version of the user guide using a serif font, like Times New Roman, would make the text easier to read when printed.

Document testing could also be used to see if screen captures and edits are clear when printed in black and white. 

The term “inmate” has negative connotations, and the industry is moving away from using “inmate” to describe the currently incarcerated. Instead using “Incarcerated” or “Incarcerated Individual” would be the term used in an updated version of this product. As development of this product was halted those improvements have not been made to the product and “inmate” is still used in the documentation to match the screen captures.