User guide
A user guide, also commonly known as a user manual, is intended to assist users in using a particular product, service or application. It's usually written by a technician, product developer, or a company's customer service staff.
User guide are often included with the purchase of household appliances. But now it is common in both services, software, applications... It is published in hard copy, or in soft copy (document or application).
Most user guides contain both a written guide and associated images. In the case of computer applications, it is usual to include screenshots of the human-machine interface(s), and hardware manuals often include clear, simplified diagrams. The language used is matched to the intended audience, with jargon kept to a minimum or explained thoroughly.
User guides have been found with ancient devices. One example is the Antikythera Mechanism,[1] a 2,000 year old Greek analogue computer that was found off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in the year 1900. On the cover of this device are passages of text which describe the features and operation of the mechanism.
As the software industry was developing, the question of how to best document software programs was undecided. This was a unique problem for software developers, since users often became frustrated with current help documents.[2] Some considerations for writing a user guide that developed at this time include:
User manuals and user guides for most non-trivial software applications are book-like documents with contents similar to the above list. They may be distributed either in print or electronically. Some documents have a more fluid structure with many internal links. The Google Earth User Guide[4] is an example of this format. The term guide is often applied to a document that addresses a specific aspect of a software product. Some usages are Installation Guide, Getting Started Guide, and various How to guides. An example is the Picasa Getting Started Guide.[5]
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