Section 2.8.2

Documentation (Manuals)

The formal description of a mechanical system or a technical process is known as its documentation. Documentation takes the form of technical and user manuals that accompany various technological objects, materials, and processes. Electronic hardware, computers, chemicals, automobiles all are accompanied by descriptive documentation in the form of manuals.

Two kinds of documentation are required when products are sold: technical documentation and user documentation.

• Technical documentation is a physical description of a system, device, material, or process. This technical description is used by expert users and designers as guidelines to maintain and modify various elements of the system. Good examples of technical documentation are the wiring diagrams that accompany electrical hardware, the computer code that accompanies many programmed instruments, and the detailed pharmaceutical descriptions that accompany various medicines. These descriptions are all intended for experts, who must make informed decisions about the installation, capabilities, modifications, and applications of the technology in question.
• User documentation includes the product guidelines addressed to the general user who needs to know basic requirements for getting the best use out of the technology. User documentation includes the manuals for product use, assembly, maintenance, operations, and repair.

Manuals should be prepared with the object of making the information quickly available to the expert or general reader. Keep the audience foremost in mind. In manuals, ease of finding and reading information is a priority. Hence manuals should contain these components:

## Documentation (Manuals) ##


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