My 7 Rules For Improving User Guide Graphics
Visual content and graphics in particular can be an excellent way of drawing an audience in especially for user guides.
Graphics, done well, can help with explaining points clearly. Increasingly, readers are also viewing content on their smart phones and tablets so it therefore makes sense to make content such as user guides as visually appealing as possible; graphics can be a good way of achieving this.
1. Audience
When considering graphics, think about who your target audience is. Do they need to know all the details or would a brief overview do?
Would several graphics do instead of one? Could you make your point in another way such as using an image instead?
2. Layout
Try and keep graphics as close as possible to the text being referenced. You could, for instance, have graphics on the left-hand-side of the page and text on the other.
3. Translations
Allow English text to expand by at least 20% in the space. The reason is that words in other languages can sometimes be longer than English words. Bear this in mind in particular for artwork and flow chart boxes.
4. Labels
Too many labels in graphics can make them become messy. Numbering labels and explaining the labels in the keys can help.
5. Colour
Consider the types of colours in your graphics. Think about contrasting colours and if you are making printed copies remember that extra colours can add to printing costs.
6. Illustrating People
When illustrating groups of people make sure you have a mix of genders, races and ages unless your graphic is about one particular group
7. Graphic Style
Use the same typeface in all your graphics. This will make sure your document keeps a consistent style.
Types of graphics
There are a wide range of graphics which could be used in user guides. Today, you are able to create professional-looking graphics often by using free tools found on the Internet.
1. Icons
Many software packages offer a range of icons. If you can, use these but free tools such as Gimp (https://www.gimp.org/) can be useful for creating your own graphics.
2. Infographics
Another great way of making detailed information visually appealing is by creating infographics. Websites such as Canva (https://www.canva.com) provides templates which can be downloaded for free but check their copyright rules.
3. Flowcharts
There are number of free online tools which can help you create flowcharts such as https://www.draw.io
4. Line drawing
Again free tools such as draw.io or even PowerPoint can make line drawings look professional.
Summary
Graphics can be an excellent way to attract an audience and to make points clearly. Consider your reader and don’t overdo the detail.
Many user guides will need to be translated into another language so make sure leave a 20% space for expansion.
We’re here if you need any help with multilingual translations for technical documents including user guides.
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Mike Waplington
Commercial Director
Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net