Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation

The Function of User Guides 
Given that users want to learn how to use the software as quickly as possi-
ble in order to carry out their main day-to-day work, a logical starting 
point when discussing user needs is the expectation that the user guide will 
provide clear and unambiguous instructions. This makes the guide easy to 
understand and ensures that the information is correctly interpreted by the 
reader. A key factor in achieving this clarity is the definition of technical 
terms and new concepts as and when they are used. 
Users also need guides to be structured. They need to know what the 
guide covers and what it does not. Perhaps more importantly, the informa-
tion must be organised according to what users want to do. Price puts it as 
follows: 
Organize by what I want to do – the tasks I want to accomplish – not 
what some programmer or engineer thinks. […] don’t make me jump
all
around the manual just to find one fact (Price 1984:8) 
Users need to be taught – not just presented with information. Readers 
need to be provided with access not just to the documentation but also to 
the specific information contained in it. They need to be guided through 
the basic functions of the software on a step-by-step basis and the guide 
should tell users what to do and what they should see at any given moment. 
The whole point of a user guide is to convey enough information to users 
to allow them to perform tasks as quickly and as easily as possible and with 
a minimum of confusion and effort. 
The ability of users to quickly learn how to use the software is also af-
fected by the usability of the guide. Users need to find information quickly 
and easily. Summaries, glossaries, indices and clear, informative tables of 
contents speed up access to and retrieval of the necessary information. Ap-
propriate language usage, which also reinforces the clarity of the guide, 
means users will not have to waste valuable time deciphering ambiguous 
sentences or phrases. 
Above all, users need the information in user guides to be correct. The 
information must accurately reflect facts – any errors will damage the users’ 
confidence both in themselves and in the guide and will ultimately impair if 
not ruin the learning process. 
The previous paragraphs have hinted at the functions of user guides but 
they provided only a very cursory insight. According to Weiss (1985:16), 
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The Function of User Guides
the primary goal of user guides is to control the reader and the communica-
tive action. Weiss maintains that 
…to communicate well we must respect the independence and intelli-
gence of the readers,
but must not rely on them. […] For user and
operations manuals, the best strategy for writers is to adapt to the
weaknesses in typical readers, to assume control of the communication. 
(
ibid.
) 
Weiss is first to admit that any reference to controlling the audience or 
communication can raise strong ethical criticisms. However, he justifies this 
by saying that while we do not fully understand how people read or com-
prehend, we do have some knowledge about what distracts them or causes 
interference in the reading and comprehension processes. Thus, in removing
sources of “noise and error” (
ibid.
) and things which we know will in-
terfere with
the correct and effective
use of the guide we are in a sense 
assuming control over the reader and the communicative act.
If, for example, to quote Weiss a guide is little more than a collection of 
facts and pieces of knowledge, the effectiveness of the guide depends on 
how well the reader processes, sorts and assimilates the information. If, on 
the other hand, the guide is “engineered to suit the interests and abilities of 
the reader, then the user is to some extent prevented from misusing the 
material” (
ibid.
). In this regard it would, perhaps, be better to rephrase the 
goal of user guides and say that they should 
guide 
the reader and the com-
municative act by limiting what the reader can do with the user guide and 
limit the use of the guide to the intended one. 
The functions of the information contained in a user guide, presented 
taking the preceding paragraphs into account, can be summarised as fol-
lows: