Product Manual Improvement Examples
Establishing a system for creating and operating user-friendly manuals from the user's perspective

eve autonomy, Inc. Overview

・Established: February 2020

・Capital: 200 million yen (including capital reserve)

・Number of Employees: 30 (as of May 2022)

・Business Contents: Development, sales, leasing, and rental of autonomous vehicles and transport carts, and provision of automated transport solutions

Services Utilized

・Manual Improvement

　-Manual Evaluation

　-Manual Creation Guidelines

Background

eve autonomy, Inc. (abbreviated) is a joint venture established by Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. and Tier Four, Inc. We provide an automated transportation service called "eve auto" for factories and plants.

At eve autonomy, we have manuals for users, internal operations, and sales agents, with volumes ranging from 80 pages to 400 pages per book. In addition, manual writing is done by three internal staff members.

※About eve autonomy
https://eveautonomy.com/services/
A self-driving transportation service that can be installed without construction and can tow up to 1,500kg indoors and outdoors.

Challenges and Background Before Implementation

I want to create a mechanism for manual creation.

In November 2021, we received an inquiry from Director Nakayama of Human Science Co., Ltd. asking for support in maintaining our website's manuals.

At eve autonomy, we have identified the following challenges with our manual in progress:
"Inconsistencies in granularity, consistency, and terminology due to multiple authors"
"Desire for consistent quality regardless of author, as frequent updates are expected"
"Need for easy revision and proofreading management through cloud integration"
"Preference for avoiding complex operations in the cloud"

In addition, eve autonomy, Inc. plans to start the eve auto business in the fall of 2022, and there was a need for an increase in support members and horizontal deployment of know-how for that purpose.

The update of the "eve auto operation manual" created for users has temporarily settled down, and the improvement of this manual has been outsourced to an external company.

Reasons for Choosing Human Science

Is the company capable of creating a "system building" for manual creation?

Our company was selected among three production companies in a competition, based on the following criteria.

• ● Can we not only rewrite existing manuals to make them easier to understand, but also create a sustainable "system" for making manuals that are easy for us to understand in the future?
• ● Can a tool be used to allow factory workers, who are end users of the manual, to view it on their smartphones?

"We received a request to ensure that the quality of the manual remains consistent regardless of who creates it, so we proposed improvements to the existing "eve auto operation manual" that can serve as a template for creating manuals by eve autonomy members. In addition, we have created a "manual creation guidelines" to maintain the quality of the manual within eve autonomy."

In addition, in order to build a useful system, it is important to accurately grasp the current issues and determine what actions are truly necessary.
Therefore, as a preliminary step to improving manuals and creating guidelines, we have included "current situation analysis" and "consideration of action plans for improvement" through analysis of existing manuals and interviews with manual personnel in our proposal.

In addition, regarding the request to "migrate to the cloud", we proposed the use of the toaster team as a tool that anyone can easily create and update. We believed that its simple and easy-to-understand operation, as well as its ability to be viewed on smartphones, would be suitable for the utilization of manuals at eve autonomy, Inc.

※MTrans Team
https://mtrans.how/
Provided by MTrans Co., Ltd., this is a tool that allows anyone to easily create and share manuals and knowledge.

As a result, we received an order from Human Science Co., Ltd. that meets the criteria of "whether we can create a sustainable system for creating easy-to-understand manuals on our own".
It was also a deciding factor that they have a track record of creating manuals for equipment and software.

Introduction Process

Current situation analysis, consideration of action plan

In January 2021, we interviewed three manual creators about their concerns and challenges regarding manual creation and updates. We also conducted a survey from a technical communication perspective on the manuals created by eve autonomy, Inc. and presented issues and improvement suggestions. Based on the opinions raised during the interview, we considered actions for improvement.

Designing Manual Table of Contents, Sample Improvements, Creating Guidelines

In February, we designed a user-friendly table of contents and conducted a recognition alignment of manual quality using improvement samples from the user's perspective. We also created a draft of guidelines, summarized the rules and settings for styles used in the manual, and compiled the desired characters and terms to be unified.

Improvement of the entire manual, adjustment of guidelines

Finally, from the second half of February to March, we made improvements to the "eve auto operation manual" and fine-tuned the guidelines. In addition, we conducted a review of the manual on the toaster team. This allowed us to experience the process of creating and operating manuals within eve autonomy and identify any issues.

"Eve Auto Operation Manual" after improvement

Introduction Effect

The awareness of the manual personnel within the company has changed.

Received the following feedback from eve autonomy, Inc.:

By creating exemplary manuals and establishing guidelines with the Toaster Team, other members responsible for manuals were able to learn "how to create easy-to-understand manuals". I feel that their awareness has changed.

After the release of the eve auto operation manual, we would like to measure the effects of switching to the MTrans Team based on user feedback.

Evaluation of Human Science Co., Ltd.

I was able to achieve what I wanted to do.

Received the following evaluation from eve autonomy, Inc.

Introduced the toaster team as a platform for manual creation, and with the creation of exemplary manuals and guidelines, we were able to achieve our initial goal of "creating a manual creation system".
In addition, by having someone who is not familiar with the product objectively analyze the manual, we were able to identify issues that were not recognized by internal members.
Regarding the progress of the project, I feel that the task management was clear and the schedule was followed as planned.

We are currently considering how to operate the manual using the manuals and guidelines created by Human Science in the future while utilizing the toaster team.

Related Services

Creation of Manuals and User Guides