Manual Analysis and Evaluation Case Studies In-house Support

Challenges of Yokogawa Electric Corporation

Yokogawa Electric provides total solutions that encompass the entire range of corporate activities, from management to production sites, not just limited to offering products in the fields of control, measurement, and information.

Regarding product manuals, we actively engage in manual production within our company, working on improving the manual production process and enhancing individual technical writing skills. We have also implemented a CMS using DITA, aiming to reduce typesetting costs and manage translations efficiently.

This time, you have utilized our consulting services to objectively verify the results of your skills improvement in manual production that you have been working on so far.

In addition, you have a challenge of wanting to thoroughly implement topic-oriented writing to improve the quality of your documents, and you were looking for hints on this point.

Solutions of Human Science

First, we selected the manuals to be targeted and evaluated and analyzed the existing manuals in terms of clarity, readability, and ease of search. During this process, we conducted a detailed examination of whether the text was written in a way that facilitates reuse, as this is a crucial element for effectively utilizing DITA.

We held a reporting meeting with all stakeholders to share the understanding of the evaluation results and to reach a consensus on the improvement of the manual.

We conducted training for the writers who are actually responsible for the writing.

Training Content

・Use the customer's actual manual as training material.

・Due to a large number of participants, we will offer the same course in two sessions.

- Based on the analysis results of the manuals, lectures will be conducted focusing on points such as "improvement of table of contents structure," "refinement of written expression," and "reconsideration of layout," while incorporating exercises.

- Discuss in groups how improvements can be made using the materials from the exercises.

Teaching Material Image

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

Creation of Manuals and User Guides

Manual Creation In-house Support Service

Manual Evaluation, Analysis, and Improvement Proposal Service

DITA・CMS

Results Achieved Through Consulting

Through evaluation and analysis, we were able to clarify the current issues and areas for improvement in manual production. Additionally, through training, we were able to share specific methods for improving the manuals, allowing our clients to rapidly advance improvements within their organization.

In particular, by individually planning and conducting training using the actual manuals of our clients, the participants' level of understanding and commitment is completely different. This time, we achieved results that were clearly different from training using generic materials.

Customer Feedback

“

It was very easy to understand because you explained the points that needed improvement using the manuals we actually produce.

The feedback on the existing manuals discussed in the workshop was very convincing and extremely helpful.

Hearing objective opinions that have become standard in the industry from the perspective of a production company broadened my horizons and helped me understand points that are often overlooked in in-house production, which was very educational.

Even if we feel that the manual needs improvement, it is difficult to unify it with existing documentation and coordinate with the developers, leaving us unsure about what improvements would be effective. In response to this challenge, we were advised to reach a consensus with stakeholders in advance regarding the revision policy and review checkpoints, and to create a sample that can share the completed image. We would definitely like to incorporate this idea into our company.

Through the group discussion, the issues raised by the participants were broken down and explained with improvement proposals, making it very easy to understand and helpful.

"

From Human Science representatives

We held a seminar based on four manuals that include both hardware and software.

Writers who are well-versed in product specifications were responsible for creating the manuals, so the current descriptions were accurate and sufficiently detailed; however, they needed further insights to thoroughly implement topic-oriented writing and achieve better information organization.

In this seminar, we conducted workshops for participants on themes such as "Improving the Table of Contents," "Polishing the Text," and "Reconsidering the Layout," allowing them to share issues and areas for improvement.

We were able to consider an approach to elevate the existing manual text for easier reuse, despite the specific constraints of DITA.

For those in charge of in-house manuals for their own products, opportunities to learn about the initiatives of other companies and production firms are quite rare. From the perspective of a production company, we hope to assist in in-house support by sharing various case studies and know-how from our clients.

Related Services

Creation of Manuals and User Guides

Manual Creation In-house Support Service

Manual Evaluation, Analysis, and Improvement Proposal Service

DITA・CMS