What Is a User Guide Description?

Eli Merrell Picture

by Eli Merrell | Last Updated: Apr 17, 2023

Ensuring your customers’ success with your product creates a positive customer experience. A positive customer experience creates brand loyalty and trust. When a customer trusts your brand they are more likely to purchase your products again.  Simple enough right? Building a positive customer experience is complex with many elements working in tandem. A great place to start is a comprehensive user guide. 

What Is a User Guide?

A user guide is a document often created for a specific product offering instructions and other important product-specific information. Most common a user guide PDF is created and shared through digital channels, such as on a website. User guides are also referred to as owner’s manuals, user manuals, or product manuals. This document is created to help users assemble and use the product.  Brands want their customers to be successful with their products so oftentimes a printed user guide is included in the box with the product. This places important information about the product at the forefront of the unboxing experience. Critical details such as assembly, how to information, and product details are in the product manual meaning the user can find all of their answers in one document.

What Is a User Guide Description?

User documentation like an owner’s manual is an important tool to build trust with your customers. If a product is complicated to use or assemble, all the more reason you will want to give your customers the information they need to be successful. Your customers want to know they can trust your brand and that your product will not cause them headaches.  By giving users the important information they need in the beginning you’re building brand loyalty. Your customers are learning they can trust your brand to make them successful. Begin creating a positive customer experience from the start. 

What Is the Importance of User Guides?

User guides set your customers up for success so they can use your product with confidence and learn to trust your brand. A user manual sample for a product information digital experience includes a product onboarding experience or a production registration form. If a sample user manual is not included with your product your customers will be left guessing. This could lead them to installing your product incorrectly or using it in a way that it was not intended for. Ultimately what it does is create a negative customer experience. Once the customer feels like they can not trust your brand it will be hard to win them back and turn them into a repeat buyer.  Not only does a user manual make your customer’s experience more efficient it can prove to be helpful to your internal team. Because customers have what they need to be successful it will cut down on the length and number of support tickets for your team. Your customers are empowered to find the answers themselves thus reducing the strain on your internal team. Another one of the many benefits of a user manual.  Take it a step further and make your product manual digital. By moving your user guide to a digital experience you can update information and share each update with customers quickly. This also opens the door to link your customers to related products or replacement parts. Instead of your customer googling where to purchase the part they need, a link will take them directly to your website or a channel partner’s to make the purchase.  You’ve just made another sale.

What Should Be Included in a User Guide?

Getting started on building a product manual can feel like a daunting task. It is important to focus on the basic parts of user manual. Think about what your customers need to get started and to be successful using your product.  There are many types of user guide examples, let’s focus on a lawn mower.  For a customer to be successful using a lawn mower they need to have specific information to get them started. Assembly is a great place to start. When your customer unboxes your product they will dive into putting it together. Give them easy to follow, simple instructions to assemble your product without any frustrated exhales. Assembly is often your customers’ first real interaction with your brand. Make it a good one.  Think next about using the product. Lawn mowers can have many levers and pulls. Oftentimes they have codes telling users different pieces of information. Explain to your user that the bunny symbol indicates increased speed. Show them that they will need to pull the starter handle to start the machine. Walk your customer through every detail of your product to ensure they feel confident getting started and using your product again and again. While some of this may seem obvious you can never provide too much information. When a warning light comes on your customer will turn to the owner’s manual to decode the message. The answer needs to be simple to find and understand.  Include other information like safety and troubleshooting tips. Share information about how to purchase replacement parts or accessories. When all of your customers’ questions can be answered in one place they will trust your brand. You are telling your customer that you’ve thought through everything and you will help them be successful.  There are many options when creating user guides. One type to strongly consider is a digital user guide. This allows for easy upkeep and easy access for your customers. By placing a QR code on the product your customer never has to dig through a drawer to find the owner’s manual. A scan of a QR code and they are already finding the answers they need.  Check out this user guide template and start building a better customer experience today!

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