Technical documentation know-how and services

Do you create technical documentation yourself, or do you want to outsource the creation or revision of technical documentation to an expert? So you’ve come to the right place.

Here you can find tools, links, and information that will help you design and write clear, concise, user-friendly manuals, online help systems, screencasts (software videos), and other forms of user assistance. Also you can find here trainings and a variety of high-quality services.

Bridging the knowledge gap

User assistance bridges the gap between what the user already knows and what the user needs to know.

Many people in charge believe that writing technical documentation doesn’t require any special qualifications.

From the technical point of view, this is quite true. Appropriate authoring software generates neat user manuals and online help systems with a click of a button.

The didactical side, however, is much more challenging. It’s no coincidence that so many people hate reading manuals and fail to use even simple products. This happens when a manual doesn’t reflect how users think, and when a manual presumes prior knowledge that users don’t have.

The skill of writing clear user assistance essentially is the ability to bridge the gap between the users’ prior knowledge and the knowledge needed to use the product. User assistance shouldn’t challenge the user. Instead, it should build up confidence, motivate the user to explore the product, and guide the user along the shortest way possible.

Because simple is simply better.

Tools and services

On this website, you can find all you need for developing high quality technical documentation:

• If you create technical documentation yourself, the Tool and Web Guide gives you a market overview of the available tools. In addition, the guide provides a comprehensive list of useful websites for your daily work as a technical writer. The Tool and Web Guide is completely free of charge.
• My books teach you best practices for creating good technical documentation. The books are not free of charge but will definitely pay off. You can convince yourself: Large sections of the books can be freely previewed.
• If you need some individual consulting or training, I can support you in person at reasonable costs.
• If you’d rather focus on your main tasks and want to outsource the design and creation of documentation to an expert, I can design and create your documents for you.