Original Content Creation
Proofing What Was Created
Proofing your own material is key. Websites, brochures, user guides and the like are usually the first and last interaction your customer has with you. The impression is also usually a lasting one. It's pretty easy to make errors (like "you" when you meant "your"), but technical errors can be more serious. At a minimum, they will confuse. At worst, errors may lead to equipment damage, safety, or poor overall satisfaction.
At AG Advice and Support, we know how to quickly identify unfamiliar or improper lingo, too much crowding or wording, parallel structure, etc. Such issues often go unnoticed when drafts are reviewed in-house. The idea isn't just to win a Spelling Bee. Reducing support calls, product returns, and overall customer satisfaction will all benefit from well-written documentation.
Original writing allows us to work with you, where we we listen to what is desired, but build a document from an outsider point-of-view. This helps ensure your first document versions will likely be among your last, helping customer comprehension from the first release, answering questions and clarifying points for your expected audience. We also know how to make it easy for your customer to find what they need, using custom layouts with a TOC, document hierarchy, whitespace, focus points, Indexes, Glossaries -- and also the format of images, vernacular, self-help procedures, and sometimes original features no one else has used before. As with proofing, using an outside perspective often allows different approaches to be considered, which may not have been considered in-house.
Original Document Quality
Knowing Your Audience
Spelling or grammar errors, small or poorly created drawings, and simple layout techniques immediately tell us a lot about the company we just bought a product from. Writing a email or text message is different from presenting instructions on your organization's product. A user's manual is often the only direct communication a company has with its customers, and if done properly, should represent all the communication you will usually need.
The above points can be hard to correct if you don't know your audience, because different languages (or the same language in different regions!) can completely change the meaning to a reader. Making an effort to understand others in other regions can offer surprising insights. Words or expressions from one region may mean nothing in another, or possibly worse, conveying something unintended and undesirable.
Once designed, a good document costs the same as a poor one. It makes a lot more sense to get your documents done properly the first time.
When Cultures Collide, by Richard D. Lewis (published by John Murray Business Academic)