External Documentation refers to written, audio, and visual materials that can provide an elaborate and interactive guide on products/services for people outside the organization. These are nothing but user guides that can provide step-by-step guidance producing a detailed learning session.
Are you struggling to effectively explain the features and details of your product to users? You're not alone! In this article, we’ll explore how external documentation can streamline your communication and enhance user experience. By the end, you’ll discover the benefits, types, and practical applications of external documentation that will help keep your team aligned and your workflows efficient.
External documentation acts as a guiding tool for users exploring your product or service. It delivers crucial information and clarity, catering to everyone from novices to experienced users. This type of documentation includes a variety of formats, written, audio, and visual—that aim to educate and inform audiences outside your organization. Resources like user manuals and instructional videos provide detailed, step-by-step guidance, ensuring a thorough learning experience that enhances user engagement with your products.
In addition to instructional content, external documentation can also feature marketing resources such as product brochures, case studies, and whitepapers. These materials play a crucial role in helping potential customers grasp the unique features and benefits of your offerings, ultimately influencing their decision to choose your product over competitors. By providing clear and informative resources, you enhance your chances of converting interest into sales.
It’s hard to imagine users with the utmost knowledge of your product’s intricacies who do not need customer support, isn’t it?
Don’t worry, external documentation can make this happen for you. It isn’t just a convenience but a revolution in user experience. This enables users to be no longer reliant on external assistance, leading them to explore, and experiment effortlessly. This can help in making users self-sufficient and get them more used to your product which can help in better acquisition and retention.
Imagine the cost of hiring people just to guide other people on using your product. Now imagine skipping that cost.
With external documentation, you can easily discover the impact of external documentation on support systems. By empowering users to learn about the product through audio/visual guides effortlessly, you can easily see a significant decrease in support costs. Also, this can cut down the inflow of support tickets and free up bandwidth for better tasks that require their expertise. This strategic shift not only amplifies the efficiency of support services but also enhances their overall effectiveness, leading to a more streamlined and robust support ecosystem.
Imagine skipping the lengthy process of product onboarding and getting people straight to work. Sounds great, right?
External documentation can make that possible!
You can now introduce your new users to meticulously crafted user manuals and installation guides that can take them through crystal-clear instructions and engaging tutorials. This will not just improve the onboarding experience but also make your work a lot easier.
It also delivers a deeper understanding of product usage, fastens the onboarding process, and gets the actual work kick-started sooner.
External documentation can significantly strengthen the bond between users and your company. Want to know how?
These easy-to-access guides show that your company believes in being upfront and honest about what your product can do. This trust is key for keeping your customer connections strong over time leading towards recurring conversions.
Learning has no language, but external documentation does.
Let’s understand this better. The world is filled with people who speak different languages (7139 officially known languages to be precise). Hence, to expand your product’s reach, it's necessary to serve your product to the audience in different languages. Vernacular communication is the easiest and the most powerful initiative any business can adopt to enter new markets.
User guides, manuals, and support materials in various languages can break barriers and invite users from diverse backgrounds to engage with your product.
Your external documentation can act as your product’s prime representative, always ready to highlight what makes you better and sets you apart from the market. Potential customers can easily grasp your product’s overall idea and specifics too with the help of detailed guides, FAQs, etc. This can speed up their decision-making and make them convert sooner.
In short, your external documentation isn't just supporting your users- it's supporting your entire sales effort. Because marketing is not just about informing- it's about selling your product's story in the most compelling way possible.
If you ever want to deep dive into the nitty-gritty of whats and hows of the product/service, user documentation is your way to go. It’s an all-in-one solution to understand the intricacies of the product through audio/visual documentation.
The ins and outs of the product can be clearly understood with easy-to-follow instructions from tutorials, user manuals, guides, etc. This is why external documentation can help people ranging from beginners to experts.
Installation guides are those detailed guides that ensure that setting up software or hardware is as smooth as butter. With this, you can go through the steps of the installation process comprehensively - from checking system requirements to setup and configuration specifics.
Stuck on products with moving parts or complex setup procedures? Installation guides can keep you covered. Without them, it’s easy to get yourself lost in a maze of cables and settings.
If you have a product/service in the market, it's given that there will be bumps on the road of using the product. It’s simply unavoidable!
This is exactly when troubleshooting guides can act as your personal tech support. The bumps that you face can be common issues such as glitches, error messages, or just a hiccup in your system. Nothing to worry about, because these guides cover everything from stepwise solutions to handy diagnostic tips. This enables you to solve your problems by yourself without waiting for customer support.
If you intend to run things smoothly in an organization (which most people do), documentation is key. But what's the deal with internal and external docs?
Let's break it down in plain terms:
Internal Documentation: These are exclusively for folks within the organization- employees, managers, stakeholders, and others.
External Documentation: As the word suggests, these are for the outside world- customers, users, partners, etc.
Internal Documentation: They give a detailed download on ‘behind the scenes’ of the product i.e. plans, rules, technical details, SOP, etc. This helps in running things smoothly.
External Documentation: External docs help the folks outside the company to utilize their product to its best. These are generally user manuals and guides which can become a healthy resource for people who need guidance.
Internal Documentation: These are full of much-needed technical documents such as company policies, specifications, internal processes, etc.
External Documentation: Know those simple yet detailed guides that help people understand the product/service? These are those guides focussed on solving real-world problems without showing any hint about the company.
Internal Documentation: Internal docs help all teammates (people on the inside) stay on the same page, get work done faster, and work together as seamlessly as possible.
External Documentation: These documents allow you to proudly show off your product and educate users about it. This also impacts the customer experience as this documentation answers their questions even before they ask. This can easily skip the tiresome process of reaching out to customer support, waiting, and then getting a resolution.
All of this not only makes it easier for the user but also increases the brand love of the customer towards the product.
As they say, behind every successful outcome lies a well-crafted plan. Similarly, an effective external documentation requires a plan that can be made by following these steps:
Begin by understanding who your users are. Assess their knowledge levels, needs, and pain points. This insight will guide you in crafting documentation that resonates and provides real value.
Once you know your audience, outline the critical elements to include in your documentation. Focus on key features, benefits, and clear usage instructions that will address your users' specific needs.
Plan the organization of your documentation. Decide how to present information logically, the appropriate length for each section, and which visual elements (like charts or infographics) will enhance understanding.
Use straightforward language that is free of jargon, ensuring clarity for all users. Provide detailed, step-by-step instructions and complement the text with visual aids, such as images and videos, to enhance comprehension.
Select a documentation tool that fits your requirements. Platforms like Document360 or Confluence offer user-friendly options for creating and sharing guides, FAQs, and other essential documents.
Implement SEO best practices by incorporating relevant keywords and metadata into your documentation. This will improve visibility and help users find the information they need quickly.
Publish your documentation on a self-service knowledge base that is easy for users to navigate. A well-structured table of contents and a dedicated FAQ section can significantly enhance user experience.
Keep your external documentation current and relevant. Regular updates are crucial, especially when changes occur in your products or services, to maintain accuracy and usability.
For inspiration, explore external documentation from leading companies like Salesforce, Slack, and Dropbox. Their comprehensive and user-friendly approaches can serve as benchmarks for your own documentation efforts.
With these steps, you'll be well on your way to creating external docs that your users will love.
Creating documents that are easy to consume doesn’t have to be rocket science
Here are some simple tips to help you nail it:
Remember, you are talking to a layman and your language should also be so. Avoid fancy talks and techie phrases (unless you really need them). While writing in fancy language can sound attractive but users need information that is easy to read and consume.
Try sounding like one person throughout the docs. Stick to sounding consistent and follow a similar tone of voice throughout your documentation - this helps users in following along.
Incorporating visuals in the documentation can help in increasing the readability and also significantly decrease the bounce rate.
Decide the sequence in which you will feed the information to the users. Think about what they need the most and then design accordingly for them.
Good organization is the key to faster work. Similarly, the better your docs are organized, the easier it gets for the user to find what they need.
Refresh your docs every once in a while considering the latest changes & feedback from users.
Testing is crucial as it helps identify and rectify potential issues before they impact the end-user experience. Test it with real users and rectify the blockers (if any).
Ensure people aren’t confused after reaching the document. Use clear headings, systematic table of contents, etc.
Users love it when they feel heard. So, give them an easy way to express themselves about how they like the docs, blockers they usually face, what works out and what doesn’t.
Always be grounded enough to share other helpful resources with your users. It wins a customer over when you prioritize their learning and not just company sales.
Let your company stand on the pillars of diversity & inclusion. This requires nothing but being sensitive enough for folks with disabilities.
With these tips, you’ll be a documentation pro in no time. Happy writing!
Making documentation as detailed as possible is like building a sturdy house: takes time and resources. As every brick needs mindful placement, each piece of information must be meticulously crafted. This process demands patience, attention to detail, and strong resources to ensure the final product is solid and reliable.
As hard as your try, managing the accuracy of documentation can get a little complex. With the technology landscape changing every day and software updates rolling in, it’s difficult to ensure accuracy without constant monitoring and effort. Doing so can help the user from getting lost and having a good experience on your platform.
A reliable and efficient solution can transform the documentation process from a monotonous task into a smooth breeze. Imagine simply recording a casual video to create high-quality documents effortlessly. This tool enhances productivity by streamlining the process, making it user-friendly, and automating much of the documentation work.
External Documents are the go-to resource for users outside the company to understand, and navigate a product or service. Let’s dive into some real-world examples to see how external documentation works in action.
This tool helps you with detailed documentation on its developer tools. From code samples to tutorials, it helps you understand its API and developer tools thoroughly. Given how volatile the development market is with new updates coming in every day, it is also frequently updated to reflect changes on the platform.
Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. It handles leads, contacts, opportunities, and cases. Businesses can automate their marketing tasks like email marketing, lead capture, etc with the help of this tool. They also have proper documentation of how to use each feature with a step-by-step guide on their website i.e. user guides, release notes, product guides, API documentation, etc.
Well, Microsoft is already known for its detailed documentation of its products and services, hands down. This well-known documentation has user guides, API, and troubleshooting guides. To ensure more relevancy and accuracy, Microsoft ensures they update their information regularly as their product upgrades/changes.
1. What are the examples of external documents?
User manuals, installation guides, troubleshooting guides, invoices, payment vouchers, VAT reports, tax returns, etc are examples of external documents.
2. What is considered an external document?
External documentation comprises resources designed to elucidate or direct a product, service, or system, accessible to users or the public.
3. How to write external documentation?
For effective external documentation, strive for clarity and simplicity to ensure accessibility to a wider audience and ensure to maintain consistency throughout.