Usability of Technical Documentation
![ClickHelp Team](https://clickhelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ClickHelp-Logo-Logo-only-Full-color-no-space@2x.png)
Usability is a term widely used in web and software development. But it can be applied to nearly anything humans interact with. Or even non-humans. Cats, for example, would tell a lot about usability of automatic feeders, smart litter boxes, or scratching posts if they could talk. So, this is quite a universal concept, really. Usability is measured in client satisfaction with some object — an app, for example. It is also about the ease of use and the time and effort it takes users to learn the app.
Now, let’s see how technical documentation fits in. Usability can be applied to printed docs in terms of how easy it is to find what you are looking for (the Index, the contents), how well the technical text is written, the quality of the paper it is printed on, how durable the cover is, etc.
But we are mostly interested in usability from the perspective of online documentation portals. To understand what usability is for an online user manual, let’s see what it isn’t.
Having a team of professional technical communicators is as important as using the right platform where readers can go to read the docs.
Usability of online documentation tools like ClickHelp starts with the fact that to open a help topic a user won’t need more than an internet connection and a device with a web browser. BTW, being offline can be enough, too, as user manuals created in ClickHelp can be shipped along with the products as a file or as a printed brochure.
As we figured out, usability is ‘a thing’ in technical writing and it requires attention from the doc team. User experience consists of multiple aspects and, as they say, a chain is as strong as its weakest link. Technical writers, just like members of all other teams in a company, need to make sure that the bar is raised high and usability of the documents they produce is top level.
Good luck with your technical writing!
ClickHelp Team
Author, host and deliver documentation across platforms and devices
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