Why RTFM doesn't work

This is a re-post of the article I originally wrote for NUBIC:

It's not the users' fault. Honestly, it's not.

When answering a technical support question, have you ever asked someone, "Did you read the manual?" Well, put away your superiority complex for a moment, and realize that your users are wondering why they need a manual in the first place.

Manuals stink, plain and simple, so stop using them whenever possible. If you've got a complex application, website (or really any training process whatsoever), and you feel that you aren't receiving the respect you deserve for writing that 900-page, 100% comprehensive training manual, stop spending time on trying to improve the manual, and instead change the system.

Here are a few things you can try that are very simple, and very effective:

• Ask why - first and foremost you need to understand why the user is having a problem with your application, then you need to correct the flaw that is causing the problem in the first place, thereby eliminating the need for the user to ask the question at all. A great method accomplishing this is 5 Whys. During the process of asking "why" it's important to always be gracious about honest feedback, and curious about how people arrive at their state of confusion. Once you've figured out what's at the root of the problem, it's usually a trivial thing to change it.
• Show, don't tell - create a short training video that shows people how to use it, rather than trying to explain it via text and pictures. If your training video can't correctly explain it in less than three minutes, your app is either too complex, or your video is trying to do too much. Either fix your app, or sharpen the focus of your video. Great examples of awesome instructional videos are the videos that introduce SquareSpace. They are short, focused on a single topic each, and (in the case of SquareSpace) linked directly from the pages in which the related question might be raised in the user's mind. A user is editing a webpage and wants to know how to add an image? The video for editing pages is linked from the page editing screen. Simple. It's true that they still maintain a searchable collection of videos that any user can simply watch, but the fact of the matter is that pretty much no one is going to go through this library and watch all the videos first. Users will typically try something, and only when they fail, will they ask for help.
• Protect users from accidents - There are many times that users will do things that they don't know are dangerous until it's too late, and they can't go back! Whenever possible, provide an "undo" function that allows users to fix mistakes with a simple click or keystroke. This method is often far superior then shifting all responsibility to the user, and presenting them with, "Are you sure?! You cannot undo this!" sorts of messages. Those messages make users fearful, cause them to stop and call you for help making a decision about what to do, and ultimately shift blame to the user when simply providing an "undo" function largely avoids the problem from happening the first place. Even the most seasoned users will occasionally make mistakes. These people aren't "dumb," and they're just human after all. Do you really want to have to recover lost data, or blame them for the mistake, when your system could simply protect users from such accidents in the first place?
• Automate it - sometimes people make mistakes when doing repetitive tasks, because humans aren't as good at doing highly repetitive things accurately 100% of the time, as compared to computers. This problem is exacerbated by processes that have multiple steps, where a mistake in any one of the steps can cause the whole process to break down. Try helping the users of your site or application by pre-filling in values for forms, automatically inserting reasonable default values, or better yet, just completely automate the process whenever possible. If there's no reason that a human really needs to be involved in a process, take them out of the loop and save everyone some time and energy.
• Language is imprecise - step-by-step instructions, no matter how detailed and precise, no matter how carefully worded, are difficult to follow. Users gets lost in lengthy instructions, misunderstand or misinterpret technical terms, and people simply don't want to read instructions anyway. Providing users with a glossary of terms (thinking that the manual should explain itself) isn't really the answer either. So, use pictures instead of words when possible, and video instead of pictures when possible. The complications of interpreting language is part of why IKEA's assembly instructions contain no words, only pictures.

 The introductory page that explains how to avoid damaging your new furniture during assembly, and what to do if you need help or are confused. Pretty clear, yes? (1) put a carpet or rug under the pieces while assembling them, (2) if you're confused, look in the manual for a picture that shows what to do, and (3) call IKEA. Note that the last picture isn't a person on a phone calling IKEA - it's literally a handset connected to IKEA. When I see this, I think only two words: "phone IKEA". The implication is uncomplicated, and clear. Also note this caption of those four pictures took an entire paragraph. Not very efficient, friendly, or helpful, is it?