A Software Company

For this customer, Comtech conducted an evaluation of the existing documentation for a drawing package for the Macintosh. We examined both the hardcopy and the online documentation, including the Hypercard tutorial. We evaluated the usefulness of the product documentation and made recommendations for its improvement for the next release of the product.

For this same customer, Comtech analyzed a proposed page-redesign effort that our client had developed as a way to shorten their user documentation. Comtech critiqued the design and suggested alternatives that would allow the client to reduce the page count while retaining readability, consistency, accessibility, and an attractive page.

A Workshop

Comtech offers a workshop where participants learn about minimalist documentation. They learn whether or not minimalist documentation is appropriate for their situation, how to produce minimalist information, and how shrinking online and printed documentation can lower costs while increasing user satisfaction. They also learn how to design lean documentation and scale down existing documentation to increase usability without compromising completeness. Some participants have reduced document sizes by 50 to 75 percent.