Often I am called upon to create a manual for users to quickly learn to navigate the site they are required to use. I consider them to be detailed journey maps. They are always done with the lowest end-user in mind, and feature screen grabs and action indicators to lead the user through the process. An exercise in deconstructive reverse-engineering, they also serve as quick reference guides to provide support to those users.
Below are two examples of such manuals.
Using CrowdRise for The Beyond Walls Cup 2018
For their major fundraiser of the 2018 Beyond Walls used CrowdRise to host a Team Fundraising effort. Board members committed to raising a certain dollar amount and were set off on their own to funnel those donations to CrowdRise. The team that raised the most earned bragging rights and some attractive swag. But most of the users of this platform found it difficult to manage and understand. There were multiple places to do the same thing, or something which looked the same but wasn’t. After several days of long conversations explaining the mechanisms and navigation of the site it became apparent that a guide needed to be provided. The manual I created walked the user from point A to Z, leaving no room for misunderstanding. Every click they had to make was documented and explained.
I provided the support team at CrowdRise with my notes and comments on the difficulties users had with their site, and in 2019, found many of the issues had been resolved or modified to greatly simplify the process and remove the uncertainty of the process.
Using Zenfolio
A photographer client wanted to archive and present his photography online using Zenfolio, but wasn’t particularly internet savvy. I helped him get a grip on how the site worked, and what to do to accomplish particular tasks. This basic guide was all he needed to become comfortable committing to the site and developing his first online presence. In one session together we built his portfolio, and he completed and maintained it from there.
Six months later I ran into him by chance and he remarked how helpful that one guidebook was to him – “I just needed a push in the right direction.” Sometimes that’s all any of us need.
