The user manual in advertising
A photo of a mid-1980s ledger application for the IBM PC.
The ad copy stated:
“For the introduction of the IBM PC, we designed the packages and software manual, creating, instead of the industry’s usual cheap plastic binders, hard-bound linen covers and slipcovers in pastel colors to stress cultural elegance and personal values.”
Spotted in Gearfuse, via BoingBoing.
Would an advert like this work today?
Labels: technical documentation, technical writing
posted by Ellis @ 11:16 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I remember seeing manuals like those with IBM PCs. I must be getting old
"Would an advert like this work today?"
Did an advert like that work back then, either?
As for today, how many hardware products can you think of that would seem more appealing if you drew attention to the wonderful user documentation? The user experience is about how you feel when you're driving that car, playing that PS3 game, eating the sandwich fresh from that grill, pausing live TV and rewinding on your DVD player. It's not about how easy it was to learn to do those things... if you mention the user documentation, it draws attention to the steps you have to go through before you get to that experience (the "time to value" of your purchase).
If you doubt this, look at the latest iPhone adverts. They're about "installing and using an application is this easy", and it's all about the few icons you have to tap, not the online help or the user manual you had to read.
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