One big manual or several small ones?

[Geoff Hart <Geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Kevin Feeman has <<a legacy document that was over 300
pages... It has just about every type of information that could
ever be needed including user guide stuff, part numbers,
troubleshooting, etc. It was horribly written, designed, and
IMHO, has way to much data to be digested by an end
user, in this case, it would be a nurse or similiar type person
in a healthcare facility.>>

On the face of it, it sounds like you really do want to have at
least two manuals: a user guide and a technician's guide.
However, the phrase "it would be a nurse or..." waves a red
flag for me. I have mercifully very faint memories of hospital
ERs and other hospital environments, but I do remember tons
of anonymous paper, very little free space, and an enormous
amount of stress for the workers. That suggests to me the
approach of creating four easily-lost manuals, any one of
which could prove crucial in a given situation, might not be
the best one. If it's really badly written, I'd be surprised if you
can't cut the size in half via judicious editing and
reorganisation, and that in itself would be a worthy goal.

<<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?>>

That's called a "leading question", because you've defined the
answer you want to receive by the way in which you chose
adjectives to describe the two options. In fact, large manuals
_can_ be easy to use and helpful, while small manuals can be
the direct opposite. What's most important in this case is not
to ask us, since we're not your audience. Go directly to the
source and ask the "nurses and similar" who would use it.

<<I don't have the access to end users to do a usability study
on this issue.>>

Nonsense. Spend 15 minutes on the phone with the nursing
supervisor of each hospital in your phone book and ask them
what they think. Make 2 or 3 phone calls each day for a
week, judiciously distributed amongst your regular work, and
nobody will ever know what you're doing... and you'll get a
much better manual, completed more quickly, as a result.
Think outside the box, and don't forget that it's easier to ask
forgiveness than to ask permission.


--Geoff Hart @8^{)}     Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Patience comes to those who wait."--Anon.


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