How to create nice flashy documentation e.g. user guide?

Question

Every project we do we need to create user guide. The problem with most user guide is that alot are full of text and not screenshots etc.

Anyone seens any nicely done user guides? Or even some kind of flash UI to orient user to the website? etc.?

Answer 1

I really like the approach Google did to document Chrome. They called up Scott McLoud and made him draw a cartoon: http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/index.html

Being a hobby cartoonist I think I'll try this approach for some simple installation guides first, and see how it goes :)

Answer 2

For orientating users to a website try TrailFire. This allows you to overlay annotatations onto webpages and link them in a linear narrative. We liked the idea so much we rolled our own :)

Answer 3

For technical documentation, I don't want a "flashy" user guide; I want the most concise manual that contains everything I need to know about the product.

The original book "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan and Ritche is as close to perfect as I've seen:

• The first chapter leads the reader by the hand through the basic concepts.
• It explains each concept simply, authoritatively, and completely.
• It explains when and why to use each feature in addition to how.
• Almost every concept is accompanied by a complete example.
• It contains a complete reference and comprehensive index.

Bonus: There's an "Easter egg" in the index. Look for recursion. :-)

On the other hand, for a product intended for non-technical users, I find that a more conversational style, with pictures, screenshots, and perhaps callouts with hints, is more effective.