Software manuals unravelled

The objective of this white paper is to provide an insight into the intricacies of developing a software  manual. It also looks into the components that go into producing an effective and high-quality software  manual. This white paper also emphasises the need for outsourcing software manual development  to external agencies.

Software manuals are reference documents  that are provided with every software. Software  manuals primarily describe in detail the  software product, its salient features and  functionalities in a simple and concise  manner that are easily comprehended by the  end user1. Software manuals are accessed  by end users to overcome any potential  problem that they face while using specific  software. Software manuals are largely created  by software programmers or technical  writers. Manuals also comprise of system  documentation that focuses on providing  guidance to maintenance engineers.  The objective of a software manual is to  furnish users with answers to pertinent  questions they might be having with regards  to executing a specific task. End users who  are keen to learn about a specific feature  may find it arduous to read about the key  features of the product. On the contrary, they  would be interested in finding a solution to  the problem that they might be facing.