How to Test the Usability of Technical Documents
![Elmira](https://clickhelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Elmira.webp)
Technical documentation is one of the main components of the software product in any respectable company. But not all organizations devote enough time to develop effective documentation. Oftentimes, there are situations when a software product is smart and ingenious, but the documentation is feeble and helpless.
Since a technical document serves many purposes and can affect the quality of a product, technical documentation must be accurate as it might lead to gaps between stakeholders.
Producing reliable technical documentation is one of the main headachy processes for software development teams.
As a result, development teams include a technical writer who ensures that the technical document is correct with the help of the documentation testing process.
Documentation testing is the process for testing the documented items developed throughout the whole process of product testing. It is a non-functional type of software testing that allows you to make sure your documentation is in a constant state. In addition, such a testing process guarantees your users a better experience and decreases tension around common issues as a writer.
In case a document does not work, there may be some problems, such as:
Documentation testing reveals problems in a document and gives you insights into how to fix them before presenting the document to a broader audience.
In general, documentation is created to find a solution for any problematic situation competently and without panic. This is a fundamental principle when thinking over the content and structure of any technical document. Here is the list of qualities to pay attention to when testing the documentation:
There are three ways to test the usability of documents:
Such testing is a great way to see if people understand the messages in a document. In a paraphrase test, each participant goes through a fragment of a document at a time. After reading each fragment, the contributors tell you, in their own words, what was said in that fragment. This testing is helpful to learn whether:
Before starting the test, you should decide where the breaks between fragments will be. For example, a fragment might be a sentence, a short paragraph, a list, or one provision of a contract. Each fragment should be meaningful and small enough for your contributors to grasp.
The authors of this technique are Dutch researchers Menno de Jong and Peter Jan Schellens. This is what they say about the plus-minus testing: “Participants are asked to read a document and put pluses and minuses in the margin for positive and negative reading experiences. After that, the reasons for the pluses and minuses are explored in an individual interview.”
This testing is a fine way to get people’s reactions to a document. Choose what plus and minus are in your document, subject to its purpose and what you’d like to learn.
You can use plus-minus to:
When we ask for positive and negative reactions in general, we often get comments about wider topics, such as the tone of a document with comments about whether the document makes sense.
Not every document is read from beginning to end. There are a lot of documents, such as handbooks, insurance policies, manuals, and many other types of documents that people don’t read through. They refer to them only to solve their problem, check a specific fact, or follow instructions.
With task-based testing of a document, you watch as your contributors try to use the document to find and understand the information. The reader here is a user who wants to read only what is necessary. Therefore, finding the right place is critical. The reader sees the information; then scans to read just enough to get the answer, check the fact, or follow the instructions.
Take notes on the suggestions and comments you get during the test. This will help you make your document perfect. If you’re not sure which testing to apply for your document, the purpose of the document can help you decide how to test it. If the purpose of your document is to explain something in detail – whether to read now, refer to later, or act on after reading, use paraphrase testing. Plus-minus testing fits a document that gives a general understanding of a topic or creates an emotion, for example, builds trust. In case a document provides answers or instructions – use task-based testing.
The availability of high-quality documentation has its advantages:
Usability testing of documentation helps you find out how well your document works for the people who use it. When we create documents, we can become too familiar with them. The results from testing cut through that familiarity and help us make better decisions about what to change and what to keep.
Good luck with your technical writing!
ClickHelp Team
Author, host and deliver documentation across platforms and devices
Get monthly digest on technical writing, UX and web design, overviews of useful free resources and much more.
"*" indicates required fields