What the Customer Wants

In Seattle, Washington, USA, where I live, today is the first really hot day of the summer. It is 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). Because of the unusual heat (unusual for Seattle), I wanted to learn how to run my car's air conditioner most efficiently. So as my husband drove my daughter and me home from an event, I looked in the owner's manual of the 2004 Mazda for information about the air conditioner.

In the index, I looked for an entry for Air Conditioning--there was no such entry.

I looked for Cooling--no entry.

I tried Cold--nope.

I tried Heating--no again.

My daughter wisely suggested Temperature Control--no entry.

My husband earnestly suggested Environmental Control--no such listing.

Since I could not find anything in all of our guesses, I opted to read the entire index. Because that proved too boring, I flipped through the owner's manual--and found an entry about the air conditioner.

Do you know what Air Conditioning was called?

Climate Control.

By that time, we were pulling into our driveway at home, but I at least I found the information I was looking for. I can apply it the next time I drive in the heat.

No doubt you understand how my experience applies to writing. It's a lesson for people who write manuals, procedures, textbooks, and other documents in which people search for information.

The lesson is this: Think about what the reader/customer wants. Think about what the reader/customer is looking for. I did not want to control the entire climate! (So why call it Climate Control?) I wanted to know how to run the air conditioner!

Now that I have written about the bad language choices and indexing in the owner's manual, I have cooled off. Thanks for reading.

Lynn

Comments

[Margaret Elwood]

Has anyone ever found a car owner's manual that was indexed with the reader in mind? I have not. Usability testing would certainly improve their usefulness, in general.