Guides that keep your customers happy
Need someone to write your user manuals? Cherryleaf helps you provide manuals that give the right answer to their questions.
You can use us to write user guides for your products.
We have experience of working with companies both big and small.
We’ll create 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.
The right types of content and documentation for you and your customers
The purpose of technical documentation is to help users to succeed with the product.
The writer must create content that is:
- easy to use
- easy to understand
- findable
- complete
- accurate, and
- relevant to the audience’s situation.
This means explaining any key concepts, and the tasks: the “what to do”, and the “how to do”.
Creating clear content efficiently
Meeting the needs of different audiences and publishing to different formats adds complexity. So does publishing to multiple languages.
Technical documentation can differ depending on the situation. For example, it can be on paper, online; just a few sentences, or a large body of knowledge.
You may need content for a number of different audiences. For example, in-house staff, maintenance and service teams, installation staff, and end users.
Having systems to create and manage content
The right content management system can help you deal with variants efficiently, and even enable you to provide personalised or highly customised content for you customers.
The content can be published to a number of documents, so users see content that is relevant to their needs.
This can be achieved by writing content in a modular way:
- Chunks of content can be re-used and repurposed.
- Changes can be applied across documents.
Cherryleaf can use a writing process that suits your workflow and technologies. We work with a wide range of authoring tools and content management systems.
Industry sectors we work in
We have written for clients in a wide range of sectors, including SEM microscopy, mass spectrometers, and radios. In addition to our in-house team, we have associate authors who have experience across a wide range of industry sectors.
We do not work in the aerospace, defence, or nuclear industry sectors.
How it works
These are most common steps in a project:
- We agree the scope of the project
- This involves understanding your requirements, the product’s capabilities, and the audience.
- We agree the price for the work. The price will depend on the size and complexity of your product.
- We agree a project start date and the project begins
- Research and planning
- Understanding your product in detail
- Understanding your users’ needs
- Creating a detailed project plan
- Develop a prototype
- To confirm the completeness of the information design
- Technical acceptability
- To confirm the fitness for purpose
- Develop the first draft
- Review by a technical or subject matter expert (and ideally, a user representative) for completeness and technical accuracy
- Develop the second draft
- Review by a technical or subject matter expert
- Final draft – it’s ready for delivery
Note:
There can be additional steps, such as developing the content operation processes and tools, and defining a strategic information architecture and design.
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Contact us
Need someone to write your content?
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.
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