Videogames and UX: documentation

Learn how to use something

Ok, so you got that new fancy product. What do you do now? How do you learn how to use it? There's basically two ways of acquiring knowledge about something:

  • Reading about the topic. Mainly official documentation.
  • Experimenting: poke here and there; see what happens.

Documentation

Products usually come with, at least, a minimum set of instructions to get them up and running. Software, of course, is no different.

In the beginning of home computing, both hardware and software came with copious information on how to use your product in the form of paper manuals with hundreds of pages; detailed with screenshots for each step of the process being depicted.

This was the norm for almost every software you bought, even for videogames! Although the first videogames started quite simple and just pick-and-play (and 2-3 buttons gamepads!) they came with user manuals to teach players several things: the lore, how to play (eg: "press B to jump"), or convenient tips.

Since software didn't change as rapidly as it currently does, it was feasible to build manuals that would last until the new version would launch (at least one year after). But now software gets updated (or deprecated) at such a pace that documentation usually gets obsolete soon.

To make things worse, given that the vast majority of users interact with software through graphical user interfaces, screenshots for each step are almost mandatory. This is a big hurdle to keep information up to date, so screenshots are kept to a minimum in the documentation for a fast iterating software.

Over time, documentation has migrated from thick paper manuals to online PDFs or help sections in websites.

Experimenting

Just like everyone experiences things differently, everyone learns in different ways. This means some people disregard manuals and just start playing with their new toy.

Doing one thing or the other will surely be determined by the context: is it a leisure product? Is it a professional tool? But the ultimate question for reading the instructions or not is how complex the product is? Can I make my way with it without reading anything?

For instance, in my case at a young age, I read the manuals with the expectation to have a fuller experience with my expensive videogame. However, in physical products (eg: a digital camera) I usually skipped the manual except for very specific features I was interested in and weren't self explanatory. Nowadays I can skip the documentation thanks to my accumulated experience in the field.

So complexity and previous knowledge are the key here, but there are some other restrictions to experimenting:

  • Time. Do you have an available time slot?
  • Energy. Are you fresh enough to learn?
  • Environment. Can you pay attention or is it too noisy?

Balancing all that will answer if it's worth reading the documentation or just learn your way through.

The decline of physical documentation

During the consolidation of the Internet, companies started to offer online documentation of their products; initially they were just PDFs of their physical counterparts. Now sometimes we're welcomed by help sections on the official websites.

But once the internet user base reached a critical base, companies cut costs by removing the physical documentation.

Nowadays your new smartphone won't probably have a charger, and also will lack a proper user manual. Maybe it'll have a small quickstart sheet to tell you how to insert the SIM card, but nothing else; except maybe for an URL to the online documentation (likely a PDF). Once you turn the device on you'll be left on your own. You're expected to know how it works, how to configure it. If not, you're expected to manage with the knowledge acquire with previous experiences with similar products.

Tutorials: the third way

In this era, more and more people consume content in video format. Lots of official documentation is present on YouTube. They have some advantages over classical documentation but share the same flaws: mainly they get obsolete over time and can't get easily updated.

But taking a step further, software has an advantage over physical products to teach the basics: interactive tutorials. They've become a common ground between documentation and experimentation as they offer a quick walkthrough of the more significant features.

Many times you'll see them applied in an annoying way and you'll start looking around where the "skip tutorial" button is. Perhaps due to the fact that they're pointing to stuff you already know. Or maybe because it's not the right time.

And then, you recall closing that window some time ago and wonder how to bring those instructions back. Some applications will allow you to follow through the tutorial on a better occasion, but that's just not the norm.

Another nice thing about interactive tutorials is that they're not an exclusive option: some will link to proper online documentation for more detailed information.

Conclusions

A few takeaways:

  • Products need documentation to learn how to use them properly.
  • Companies shouldn't rely on past experiences from their users to make them proficient using their products.
  • The length of this documentation will vary depending on the complexity of the product.
  • The documentation needs to be accessible in any circumstance. Even if the original physical manual is missing, there should be an online version.
  • Having online documentation is a life saver for lost manuals or second hand situations, but should not be the only option.
  • Some software might be easy to use at a beginner level, but difficult to master without proper instructions.

Things to look at if you're product evolves over time:

  • Keep the documentation up to date.
  • Keep versions for each revision of the software.
  • Translate everything to as many languages as possible.

A company with good documentation (either in classical or interactive form) is a company that believes in the usefulness of their products and respects their users.

Epilogue when in doubt: RTFM

After encountering a problem with some tool, many people go online and ask for a solution. Depending on the complexity of the issue, users will either have an answer with a walkthrough to solve it, or they'll just get a popular acronym which politely encourages people to read the software manual: RTFM.