Portfolio ⮞ User Manual for COM 1001
User Manual for COM 1001
Project Overview
TC 3320 User Documentation
Individual Project
February 2023 | 2 Weeks
In my Winter 2023 User Documentation class, I was asked with creating a user manual to complete a specific task in Adobe Acrobat. This manual would be based on previous assignments including a user analysis, style guide, and documentation plan.
Project Goal
My goal was to create a styled user manual following the happy path when creating an interactive PDF from one or multiple Word files in Adobe Acrobat for use by COM 1001 students. This document would be used to instruct students at their own pace, saving more instruction time for the professor.
Personal Contributions
I completed the following key tasks:
- Conducted user analysis: I identified the primary audience and secondary audiences of the user manual, identifying motivations, needs, environments, and more about two audience members. I also created a user persona to guide my writing.
- Created a documentation plan: I used knowledge gained during my user analysis to prepare a documentation plan to ensure that the final product would be successful, outlining the structure of the manual as well as other resources needed.
- Adhered to style guide: I created a style guide to ensure that all sections of the document were cohesive in both style of writing and in the instructions to the user.
- Wrote each section of the user manual: I first wrote out each section included in my outline, keeping in mind the audience members as well as referencing my style guide. Attention was paid to correctly formatting instruction steps, as well as notes and tips.
- Formatted user manual: I formatted the manual to match the HSC manual template that was provided by the instructor. I ensured that screenshots used were referenced in the text, the callouts formatted properly and adequately, as well as any icons being referenced in the text.
Project Results
I received good marks for my work. My professor appreciated my inclusion of a description UI elements in Adobe Acrobat before the instructions in addition to finding my use of figures through the manual as helpful. They also noted some areas to further improve my manual through some additional navigational elements and prerequisite information and some minor edits in removing unnecessary words. I was able to use this manual as an example of my technical writing skills when interviewing for my internship position at New World.
User Manual
View the manual as a PDF here here or click the image below.
User Analysis
View the user analysis as a PDF here here or click the image below.
Documentation Plan
View the documentation plan as a PDF here here or click the image below.
Style Guide
View the style guide as a PDF here here or click the image below.
