Technical User Manual
While I wrote and designed the entire 40 page EXO Technical User Manual, the section I wish to highlight here is the one describing the electrical ports.
The New Product
The G7 EXO is an area monitor that can detect dangerous levels of gases. Once detected, EXO will notify nearby workers and remote monitoring personnel, and can be set up to automatically interact with secondary machines when in alert.
For example, EXO could automatically shut off a generator when explosive gases are detected, or a gate can be closed to stop people from entering an area if noxious gases are detected.
Empathize
My first step was to understand as much as I could about the project (regulations, technical jargon, setup environments, regional differences, expected user expertise, etc.). I had many conversations with the electrical engineers who were designing the hardware. I also researched user manual design, technical electrical drawings, and interviewed external electrical engineers as potential end users.
Define
EXO was a device that would be used all over the world in countless situations. It would be dealing with many different countries’ regulations and new and evolving setups.
After research, it was determined that Blackline Safety would be offering two setup solutions. Less technical users could use the approved “plug-and-play” setups, and users with more electrical expertise would have the required information to create custom setups. The first solution required little instruction in EXO’s manual, but the second solution needed much more.
How might I create instructions for the EXO electrical ports that are both adaptive and very clear about technical and safety limitations?
Ideate, Prototype and Test
This was a completely new problem for Blackline Safety so I didn’t have much inspiration to pull from within the company. I studied other area monitors’ manuals and comparable products. There seemed to be three main bits of information the good ones included; a description of EXO’s port, a description of the necessary cable, and an electrical drawing on how to connect the two. I came up with a few ideas on how to convey all three and ran them past my electrical engineer and UX team members.
We finally settled on one idea, and I created the first draft. There were some glaring problems with its technical information, but it gave everyone involved in the process something to point at and discuss.
Similar to the first step, I sent my drafts to external electricians and the electrical engineers who were designing and testing the hardware. They all reviewed my many drafts and sent me their thoughts and concerns. Near the end we also received a lot of feedback from the governing body that regulates intrinsically safe devices.
The biggest test came when we sent an EXO and the nearly completed technical user manual to a fellow in Europe. He was able to use the provided information to safely connect EXO to a generator.
Final Product
When the manual was finally published, the electrical port section included a description of EXO’s port, a description of the necessary cable, and an electrical drawing on how to connect the two like I had planned. It a also ended up with a list of cautions, definitions, a device image, and two more electrical drawings with accompanying tables.