ABSTRACT

Technology is changing the way we do business, the way we communicate with each other, and the way we learn. This new edition is intended to help technical writers, graphic artists, engineers, and others who are charged with producing product documentation in the rapidly changing technological world. While preserving the basic guidelines for developing manuals and warnings presented in the previous edition, this new edition offers new material as well, including a much-expanded section on hazard analysis.

Features

  • Provides more explicit guidance on conducting a hazard analysis, including methods and documentation
  • Offers in-depth discussion of digital platforms, including video, animations, and even virtual reality, to provide users with operating instructions and safety information
  • Incorporates current research into effective cross-cultural communication—essential in today’s global economy
  • Explains new US and international standards for warning labels and product instructions
  • Presents expanded material on user analysis, including addressing generational differences in experience and preferred learning styles

Writing and Designing Manuals and Warnings, Fifth Edition explores how emerging technologies are changing the world of product documentation from videos to virtual reality and all points in between.

part I|55 pages

Product Safety in the 21st Century

chapter 1|21 pages

The Changing Landscape

part II|140 pages

The Making of a Manual (Or More Than One!)

chapter 3|39 pages

Designing a User-Friendly Manual

chapter 4|29 pages

What You See Is What You Read. … Or Not

chapter 5|29 pages

A Picture Is Worth … It Depends

chapter 6|17 pages

Thinking Outside the Books

chapter 7|19 pages

Special-Purpose Manuals

part III|63 pages

You Have Been Warned

chapter 8|22 pages

The Duty to Warn

chapter 9|39 pages

Warnings That Work

part IV|44 pages

Making It Work in the Real World

chapter 10|25 pages

Who Writes a Manual?

chapter 11|16 pages

Integrated Product Safety

The Manual Is Just the Beginning