Re: Preference: One Big Manual or a Bunch of Smaller Ones?

["Nancy E. Kaminski" <nancykam -at- MEDIAONE -dot- NET>]

Kevin:
>My question is this: Would an end user rather have a large document that
>contains lots of information in a format that is hard to use and find the
>necessary data, or would a user prefer to have smaller documents where the
>information is easily accessible? My assumption is that the user would
rather
>have something that is useful, hence the small documents. Has anyone else
had
>experience in this, I am sure you are out there! It seems like a common
problem,
>at least in my experience that companies try to cram way too much
information
>into manuals.  But I don't have the access to end users to do a usability
study
>on this issue. Any thoughts, opinions, ideas?

I write manuals for a large hospital system. My end users, who include
nursing staff, technicians, admitting clerks, etc., have a preference for
small, specialized documents like those that you are proposing. They don't
have the time to pick through a large book, and practically speaking, they
don't have the space to store it, either. Nurses work out of centralized
nursing stations, where counter space is at a premium and no one has their
own desk.

We do lots of quick reference cards, too. These laminated cards store easily
next to PCs, are immune to spills, and are easy to use.

HTH, Nancy
==============================================
Nancy E. Kaminski , Technical Writer/Editor
Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis, MN USA
(612) 672-6882 phone, (612) 672-6083 fax
nkamins1 -at- fairview -dot- org | nancykam -at- mediaone -dot- net
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