From the perspective of a technical writer and translator based in Tokyo, this is an example of evaluating and standardizing industrial product manuals, shifting the focus from the perspective of the engineer to that of the user.

 

Request from IHI Corporation

At IHI, we actively work to improve service quality by consolidating the expertise of skilled technicians in the field into manuals.

In addition, with the increasing percentage of overseas shipments for our products, it has been a challenge to synchronize with the manuals for overseas use.

Without having a dedicated manual creation team, the designers themselves were creating manuals in a situation where they were asking themselves, "How can we make a manual that is easy for users to understand, not from a designer's perspective, but from an operation and maintenance perspective?" and "How should we organize and consolidate information of various levels that has been used for different purposes so far, based on what criteria?" They were searching for solutions.

Therefore, we decided to utilize our consulting group and first focus on standardizing the target product.

Human Science Solutions

In order to standardize industrial product manuals, a high level of expertise is required, making the cooperation of on-site technicians essential. IHI has assigned a person in charge of standardizing drawings for each construction project, and has taken measures to ensure smooth communication with our company.

When summarizing manuals written from a technical perspective into a user perspective, it is important to understand "where everything is written" and "what the content is trying to convey".

First, we evaluated and analyzed the existing manual to visualize the current situation, and clarified the points to appeal to the target users. Then, we reviewed the table of contents to ensure it is suitable for the target users, and optimized the readability and clarity of each section.

When creating manuals that are not intended for consumers, it is important to write them according to the user's level of expertise. In this regard, we have had multiple meetings with IHI to align our understanding of standardization.

For more detailed information related to this case study, please see below.

Manual Creation and User Manual Creation

Manual Creation In-house Support Service

Manual Evaluation, Analysis, and Improvement Proposal Service

Customer Feedback

“

As we proceeded with standardization, we were able to share the entire process and clearly present what should be done and its output for each process, giving us a sense of accomplishment as good results were produced.

In addition, it was important to share the purpose of standardization within the company, as it was necessary to request the attendance of meetings and the provision of materials from busy technicians. The focused hearing and accurate advice from a professional perspective greatly helped in seeking cooperation within the company.

Not only does it simply summarize existing manuals, but it has also been enhanced with additional value. In particular, the sentences have been carefully crafted to be easy to read for the intended users, and I feel that they have improved significantly compared to the old manuals.

In addition, I believe that advice based on specialized knowledge of writing will not only contribute to the clarity of the Japanese language, but also serve as a foundation for creating high-quality international manuals. The other team members are also satisfied with the easy-to-read layout. We look forward to your continued support.

”

From Human Science representative

"Unable to maintain the manual, I have been adding information on an ad hoc basis and creating separate booklets, causing the necessary information to be scattered." "It is difficult to understand where and what is written, and I struggle with inquiries from users."

- This type of feedback is often received as a concern from companies that produce their own manuals.

Even in the case of IHI, they were aware of the issue of information inconsistency between multiple manuals, such as manuals written in detail by skilled technicians, manuals compiled by young staff based on tasks, and English manuals created specifically for overseas expansion.

Therefore, in order to first understand the current situation, we proposed to organize and summarize this information.

In addition, not only did we summarize existing information this time, but it was also necessary to incorporate additional information that had not been explicitly stated in the manual, so it was essential to receive information from our clients.

It was a very specialized manual in the field of energy equipment used in plants, but thanks to the cooperation of our clients in terms of hearing and providing materials, we were able to smoothly progress the project by closely communicating with them.

We have focused on improving the quality of our documents by reviewing the table of contents, brushing up on sentence expressions, and refreshing the layout. We are very happy to hear that our customers have been able to feel the effects of these improvements.

We will continue to proceed with the standardization of manuals for other products, and we hope to continue to provide you with satisfactory assistance in the future. Thank you for your cooperation.

Related Services

Manual Creation and User Manual Creation

Manual In-house Support

Manual Improvement