MORE THAN PRETTY: Designing Effective Training and Help Documents

Many training and help document creators think they have succeeded if they or someone else has made their document “pretty.” When it comes to information transfer, pretty is not enough. If you are not applying information design, graphic design, and instructional design to your training or help document, then you are not producing an effective document. The good news is that all these skills can be learned, and by the time you finish this book, your documents will be far more attractive and effective.Document types include:Job AidsUser Guides & ManualsQuick StartsParticipant GuidesInstructor GuidesTraining DecksCommunicationsFAQsYou will learn a process for success that ensures you create the correct document type. Then you will learn how to structure, lay out, and format the document, and include the necessary components for that type of document. No more confusing, amateur-looking documents that make information transfer harder, not easier! Anyone who creates documents that are meant to train, teach, or help, can benefit from this book: instructional designers, help content creators, subject matter experts, technical writers, and educators.Rosendo Gonzalez, M.Ed., started his publishing career working in a print shop and copy center. He graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.A. in English, and subsequently received a Masters degree in Education with an Instructional Technology emphasis from San Francisco State University. His first foray into the corporate world was at Sun Microsystems where he learned how to create online content and produce technical documentation. Since then, he focused on Instructional Design, where he designed and produced training and help content in all modalities, including print, online, eLearning, and video. For this book, he draws on his experience of creating hundreds of training and help documents. His clients have represented a broad range of industries and have included: Stanford University, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Applied Materials, and AAA Insurance. He lives in Silicon Valley, California, and repairs and restores vintage guitars when clients do not have an impending deadline. Read more