Appearance
The appearance of user guides is an essential part of the communicative ef-
fect of user guides and it conveys information to users before they have
read a single word. Appearance includes anything from the arrangement of
text on a page to the way a guide is bound – all of which affect the effec-
tiveness and usability of a user guide. Houghton-Alico (1985:59) maintains
that in order to produce quality software user guides we need to devote as
much time and effort to format and design as we do to content and writing
style.
Apart from making a user guide more aesthetically pleasing, the way in
which the pages of a user guide are designed and laid out plays a crucial role
in how readers find and assimilate information and can even determine the
environments in which the guide is used. According to Houghton-Alico
(1985:59), each page should invite the reader to read the page, to become
involved in the user guide. It is also essential that the appearance of a user
guide is consistent with the look and feel of other documents produced by
the company as it creates a more professional impression and serves to im-
prove confidence in the product; conversely inconsistently presented
documents impair the image of the company and can also shake a reader’s
confidence in the quality of the product and the information contained in
the document.
The design of each page should, according to D’Agenais & Carruthers
(1985:48-50) take the following criteria into account:
Simplicity
The design of the page should not be distracting or visually “busy.” The in-
formation should be immediately apparent to the reader.
Retrievability
The page should have enough information on it to facilitate the immediate
identification of the subject matter. For example, the document title or
chapter name should be printed in the header or footer.
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