Manuals comprise extensive and detailed information about any product. It is the holy grail of information relating to the product and contains everything related to the technical aspects to various issues that can arise from different situations. The manual outlines every single detail. These manuals used to be hand-written at one point in time and we can only imagine the expertise and time it took to write them. But, with advancements in technology, these manuals - once plain and simple – have transformed into interactive manuals. With a higher degree of user engagement, they are able to explain complex products effectively.
Let us now understand what these interactive manuals are and how they are driving change.
Interactive Manuals: What are They?
By utilizing multiple multimedia such as videos, animations, 3D models and diagrams, they bring forth the interactivity for the user. Such encapsulation of these multimedia elements makes these interactive manuals flexible and intuitive which in turn can add numerous benefits to the end user.
Interactive Manuals: Types
Web-Based Manuals
These are the types of interactive manuals that are available via web browsers. Such interactive manuals need an internet connection to be accessed and also have the ability to be updated in real-time.
Mobile App-Based Manuals
Such interactive manuals are designed for mobiles and tablets. They offer portability and are convenient to use.
Embedded Interactive Manuals
These manuals are embedded into a software, offering flexibility and portability by being able to be accessed on multiple platforms and also provide contextual help for users while they navigate the product.
Interactive Manuals: Benefits
User Engagement
The interactive manuals offer a higher user engagement compared to their predecessors. With these manuals, the learning curve is reduced as there are multiple learning materials such as videos, attachments, animations and more available at the fingertips.
Accessibility
Compared to the traditional manuals, interactive manuals are available and can be accessed through multiple devices and platforms. This makes crucial information available with the users at any given time.
Cost Reduction
The cost of maintaining traditional manuals was high. Printing and distribution of these manuals were not just a hassle but also an additional cost that businesses had to incur with each new product. These interactive manuals have completely bypassed the distribution and printing costs now.
Learning and User Retention
Interactive manuals are able to present data and information in such a way that can improve the user's learning. They can learn complex issues easily with various animations or explanatory videos that can be embedded in the system.
The Key Features of Interactive Manuals
Now that we have understood what benefits an interactive manual brings, let us shift our focus towards understanding the features that an efficient interactive manual should have.
Interface Should be User-Friendly
When a system is able to solve complex problems and make learning easier, it should have a user-friendly interface. This would have a positive impact on the users of the interactive manual.
Integration of Multimedia
To help the users understand better and to explain complex problems with ease, the interactive manual should have a feature to embed different types of multimedia in the system. This could be videos, animations, websites, internal videos, etc. These improve the learning and ensure the user gets all the information in one place and doesn’t need to leave the system.
Search Functionality
This is perhaps one of the most important features any interactive manual could have. Users would need to search for information in case of an issue or if they need to troubleshoot any existing issues. The retrieval of information should be smooth and easy.
Integration with Core Systems
The ideal interactive manual should have integration features which would make it a system that can be integrated to any existing business systems such as SAP, ERP, etc.
Summing Up
Interactive manuals can enhance user experience and improve the accessibility by providing accurate information with ease, without having to leave the interface. These features make it an ideal system which businesses can choose to employ for managing the extensive product manuals. These interactive manuals bring forth a plethora of positive attributes and are also scalable. With time and technology, we are sure they will evolve too.