20. Installation Stage: User Documentation

The development of the user documentation is left until after the testing phase is complete. If it is created beforehand, parts of the system could change as a result of faults being discovered.

User documentation is provided to the user which gives an overview of how to use the system.

Paper based user documents are usually in the form of a booklet or file.

The typical format of a paper-based user document includes

• Table of contents
• Short introduction or overview of the system
• Brief technical details such as the hardware and software requirements to run the system
• User Guide : this is the bulk of the document
• Glossary of technical terms
• Troubleshooting: usually a simple list of things to check before calling for further help
• Index

User documentation is often used during staff training sessions in order to familiarise the staff with both the system and the user documents.