Winning Digital Products | TEESBUBLIC

 Nearly every product requires some kind of documentation to help customers understand how to use it. Depending on the product, sometimes those user guides or product manuals can be hundreds of pages long with pages full of long blocks of text.

 In other words, they can be pretty daunting, especially for new users.

 Obviously, you need documentation that covers everything your product can do. But sometimes your customers just want to know something without having to wade through a ton of content to find it.

 A quick-reference guide is a perfect way to provide your users with a wealth of quickly accessible information in an easy-to-digest, engaging way.

 They are especially useful when a product or service has a number of different or advanced functions, but can be operated more simply, as well.

 Quick-reference guides allow your users to quickly and easily find the information they need to perform a specific task or set of tasks.

 For example, a few years ago, I upgraded my basic stove with a nicer, more advanced model. While the oven on the old stove was basically on or off with temperature settings, my new one came with all kinds of new features.

 There was a regular Bake setting, as well as Convection Bake, Roast, Bread Proof, and more. Additionally, the new one has buttons and a digital readout while the old one was just a knob you turned to turn it on and set the temperature.

 Now, I’ve baked a loaf of bread or two in my day, but let’s be honest. Most of the time when I use my oven I’m heating up pizza rolls or toasting some garlic bread, so I mostly use the regular bake setting.

 Luckily, the manufacturer provided a quick-start guide (one of the most common types of quick-reference guides) to help me do basic baking. In a few short steps, I knew exactly what I needed to do to use the oven for its most basic function.

 Then, when I wanted to work with the more advanced features, I could delve deeper into the full product manual.

 Quick-reference guides allow your users to quickly and easily find the information they need to perform a specific task or set of tasks. They don’t replace a full user manual, but they provide a fantastic supplemental way to deliver information.

 Here’s everything you need to know about making a high-quality quick-reference guide in no-time.

 As noted above, a quick-start guide is one of the most common types of quick-reference guides. So, while not all quick-reference guides are quick-start guides, all quick-start guides are quick-reference guides.

 And, if you don’t have the right tools, this is where things can get really tricky. It can be time-consuming to try and put everything into a Microsoft Word document, for instance.

 And if you don’t have access to a professional designer, ensuring your quick-reference guide looks great can be a bit daunting.

 They provide professional-looking designs you can use to create quick how-to guides with drag-and-drop ease.

 Add your descriptions in the corresponding sections in the space at the right of the template, and add a title in the title box.

 There are a number of different types of quick-reference guides, so you want to know exactly what your audience needs before creating one.

Instagramtemplate

 Does your audience need a fast and easy way to get started using your product’s most basic features? Then you want to create a quick-start guide.

 Learn your audience's needs and expectations and then create the content they need to succeed.

 Or, maybe they need a one-stop reference for understanding your software’s UX? How about a glossary of common terms? Or an overview of your product’s core features?

 Or, imagine your users are moving from one piece of software to yours. What information might they need to make the transition easier? Think about things like differences in menu trees, icons, feature names, etc.

 All of those things (and WAY more) can be accomplished with a quick-reference guide.