Software Manuals that Make Sense

Software developers and IT Managers: If you need an accurate, comprehensive and user-friendly tutorial or manual written for your digital design-related product, ask Anne-Marie to do it. She has ten years of experience of breaking down the densest material to a format that designers can understand and enjoy.

Clear screen shots (Mac and PC) and handy step-by-steps for common tasks intercept your users' FAQs before they even get asked. Complete manual design, indexing, linked PDF conversion and distribution services are also available. Which translates into more time for you and your staff to work on projects other than documentation and end-user support.

John Kriho, founding partner of Meadows Information Systems (now owned by Banta) can attest to that. John said he went through "at least five different writers" over the course of a year, fruitlessly searching for someone to rewrite the 200-page manual for a new version of one their most expensive and technically-oriented XTensions, DesignMerge Pro. He said, "I found professional writers who didn't understand the program, and computer experts who didn't know how to write."

Then he hired Anne-Marie. After she turned in a test piece — a completely rewritten and updated introductory tutorial — he said, "Finally! I've found someone who 'gets it!'" Kriho hired her to complete the remainder of the manual, requesting that she add "the Anne-Marie spin" even to the sections that didn't need updating.

Anne-Marie has also written user guides for clients' operations manuals, brochure copy for Ameritech Information Industry Systems' business-to-business PCS telecommunications package (which won a Business Communications award), and numerous feature articles and columns for design-related magazines, some of which can be read in her Article Archive.

She even wrote the definition of Desktop Publishing! Well, at least the one that's been in the World Book Encyclopedia since the 1994 edition: 1,000 words explaining the revolution of an industry for middle school students. Next time you're in a public library (or on worldbookonline.com), look it up to see if she got it right!

Anne-Marie was a contributor to the books Photoshop Filter Finesse, The Macintosh Bible, and Web Design Essentials; and in 2001 wrote her first book, Professional Web Site Design from Start to Finish.

If you would like to discuss your upcoming tech documentation project with Anne-Marie, tell her about it on the Request a Quote form or call her at (312) 946-1100.