In this page
Who this is for
About the problem
How Cherryleaf can help
What success looks like
Next steps
How to contact us
Who this is for
Cherryleaf’s services are for organisations that are:
- Developing a product or service
- Creating or rewriting their procedures
About the problem
People typically want procedures or Help content to provide them with clear and concise answers to their questions or problems so they can do the thing they want to do.
If this is done poorly, it can lead to people getting stuck or making mistakes.
And the consequences of that can be more calls to the support lines, people giving up on your product or service, or fewer sales.
When each support call can cost between $30-$150 to resolve, there can be a significant financial impact to the business. Lost sales and operational mistakes can cost even more.
The reputational risk is harder to quantify, but it’s still a worry for many organisations.
To be a successful technical communicator, you need to have a special set of skills
Many organisations don’t have the skills or time to create this content to the standard that people expect these days. They also don’t have the capacity to keep it up to date, whenever change happens.
We all learn how to write essays and reports at school, but few of us are taught how to write instructional content. By this, we mean online Help, business procedures, or training courseware.
You need to be able to understand what the readers need. You need be able to write clearly – this is really important. You need to get the information itself. You also need to deliver on time.
When developers have to write for end users, they have to deal with the “curse of knowledge”. This means when we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it.
On top of all that, you might also need to know how to use the specialist software tools that makes it possible to manage and publish large amounts of content.
How Cherryleaf can help
The good news is that you can call on people who do have these skills. People like the ones who work at Cherryleaf. Cherryleaf can work with you along the process of creating:
End-user documentation (online Help)
API documentation and developer portals
Policies and procedures
UI writing
Creating end-user documentation (online Help)
Cherryleaf’s technical communicators focus on writing Help content that enables your customers to solve problems for themselves.
You can use Cherryleaf to create: end user documentation, embedded Help, onboarding content (app UI text, text overlays, UI text, User Interface text), getting started guides, Knowledge Bases, product datasheets, quick reference guides, reference manuals, tutorials, screencasts and video walkthroughs, and white papers.
We have experience of working with companies both big and small. We’ll create and write these for you, simply and efficiently, and within an agreed schedule and budget. This means you’ll keep your software project and costs on track.
Creating API documentation and developer portals
Having Cherryleaf’s technical communicators write your API documentation is a great way to create a successful developer portal.
This can range from enabling users to get a response from your APIs, to explaining why someone should use them.
Our technical writers work with your API development team to write the API content that customers need and expect. We can apply best practices from successful documentation portals.
UI writing services
We help you provide the right information, in the right format, at the right time, and in the right place. This is so your users will succeed when they use your product.
You can use Cherryleaf to:
- Write content, such as onboarding emails and screens, microcopy, chatbot text, voice scripts, embedded Help, or User Interface text.
- Review and edit your onboarding and UI content for consistency in tone and voice.
- Develop content style guides, content and standards.
- Train your team to write better onboarding and UI content.
Our team has a background in user experience design, copywriting, and technical communication. This means they can write content that connects with people. We love creating content that actually helps people have a successful user experience.
Writing policies and procedures
Cherryleaf writes and updates policies and procedures, so that the information is easy for staff to understand and implement.
This can include:
- Writing the content:
- Policies
- Processes
- Procedures (work instructions and tasks)
- A terminology database
- Information based on roles and responsibilities
- Training courseware
- Publishing the policies and procedures (on paper and online)
- Creating a simple set of standards (for voice and tone, formatting etc.)
- Updating existing content
- Training your staff
What success looks like
Your users can get on with their jobs. You can build confidence that your product is both usable and useful.
This information can bring prospective customers to your website, too. That’s because many people search the web for information on how to solve their problems.
What users want
People typically want procedures or help content to provide them with clear and concise answers to their questions or problems so they can do the thing they want to do.
Specifically, they want:
Easy navigation
They want to be able to quickly and easily find the information they need without having to navigate through a complex or confusing interface.
Clear and concise content
They want the content to be written in a clear and concise manner that is easy to understand. They don’t like technical jargon or complex language that is confusing to them.
Relevant information
Users want the information to be relevant to their specific needs and questions, without having to sift through irrelevant or unnecessary information.
Accurate and consistent information
People expect the information to be accurate, consistent, and up-to-date. There shouldn’t be any outdated or incorrect information that might confuse them or result in mistakes.
Visual aids
People appreciate visual aids such as screenshots, diagrams, flowcharts and videos that can help them better understand the information and solve their problems more efficiently. However, they don’t want so many that they find it hard to read the text.
Search functionality
People want the ability to search the knowledge base or online help file for specific keywords or phrases. This can make it easier to find the information they need.
Personalisation
They appreciate personalised content that is tailored to their context, specific needs or preferences. They want to know what to do in unusual or specialised situations, but they don’t want that content to crowd out the most commonly needed content.
Case studies
For examples of what we do, see our case studies.
Testimonials
HCC Embedded
We see an ongoing role for Cherryleaf as consultants who can help to get better documents out of the vast material we have added to the system. Very importantly, Cherryleaf were able to rapidly respond to our issues with the system and help us understand.
Samaritans
For Samaritans volunteers, having the information available on the intranet rather than in a manual in their branches, means they can find out what they need to know at any time; the search facility and page style ensures that information can be located and read quickly and easily. For prison staff, this is the first time they will be able to see all of the Samaritans guidelines for running the Listener scheme; this will help to further develop their understanding of the scheme and will support them in facilitating the operation of the scheme in their prison. Samaritans is delighted with the result of the project.
IO1
I worked with Cherryleaf on a project for the European Community made up of a consortium of different companies and nationalities. Their communications skills were excellent and capacity to speak both fluent technical jargon and business English are truly superb
MyScience
As an IT team, we had an array of support documentation for systems and services that we’d always struggled to have a consistent format, style and structure for. The course delivered by Ellis Pratt really clarified the best practices to use and answered many of the questions we had.
We were so satisfied with the service provided by Ellis that we contacted Cherryleaf to create an exemplary piece of documentation for one of our systems, with an aim to using the documentation as a template for our other services going forwards. Ginny Critcher was always punctual, polite and efficient in all her work. Where there were any doubts or suggestions, Ginny would provide insight into what the best approach would be in an eloquent and thoughtful manner.
Red Gate Software
We recently changed our authoring tooling. Cherryleaf came and did a spot of consultation to help us choose something that fit our use cases. I’d absolutely recommend their service if you want some help picking tooling.
Julian Maynard-Smith
Cherryleaf is one of the best technical authoring houses in the business, and profoundly knowledgeable, professional and approachable. Highly recommended for anyone requiring top-notch documentation or training services.
Truphone
Cherryleaf did great work for us at Truphone. They came, they listened, they worked hard, they delivered.
Opportunity Matrix
I had some basic instructions for my new online application, Opportunity Matrix™, but absolutely no idea how to turn them into a proper Help system.
The information and guidance from Cherryleaf was always top notch, so I always knew exactly where the project was, and what the (quite reasonable) budget needed to be. I shall have no hesitation in using Cherryleaf again, and in recommending them.
ProcessAssets
I’m very pleased with the enhancements to the Help System. You created very clear topics for some areas that I find difficult to explain. You also identified a number of ‘bugs’ with the current version that have now been fixed. This just continues to improve the product.
Next steps
The size and complexity of your product (or procedures) has an impact on what needs to be done. Let’s start by discussing that:
Contact us
Complete the contact form below. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers to all of the questions.
We will contact you to discuss your situation and requirements.
You can always phone or email us, if you prefer.
* Required