One of the worst bits about being a developer is having to come up with documentation. There are great tools to help any coder who comments their code (fewer than you think actually do this) automatically generate programmer’s documentation, but what about user docs? I hate dealing with user docs. As a result, they often suck.

It has been suggested that user manuals need a make-over and whilst I understand the point that is being made, I think we can do something even better. Rather than spend all that money on producing a beautiful looking user manual that marketing got to, how about get rid of the manual completely?

It’s no secret that a lot of the new start-ups have been inspired by the wonderous 37signals philosophy, and in particular the ideas condensed into Getting Real. To my mind, if we follow those philosophies, we should be looking at producing systems that don’t need manuals. If you can’t look at a web application or a camera and work out intuitively how it works, it’s the wrong interface.

When you buy a new digital camera, what’s the first thing you do with it? I take a picture. I don’t care if the exposure is wrong, that it’s writing to the internal memory instead of the memory stick, that the flash isn’t turned on, etc. Once I know how to take a photo with it, I’m ready to start exploring, and most cameras these days have a great interface via their on-screen display. I don’t want to get my new toy and spend a few hours flicking through a manual just to work out how to turn it on.

This philosophy - the simplest interface possible - means we eradicate the problem known as “Stuck in P-mode” that blights so many users. But what if you have to produce an interface that needs to be a bit more ‘condensed’ than a carefully thought-out OSD menu? What if you want to embrace the expert user who wants the short-cuts and so on?

I’d still say the interface is wrong, but if you have to, when the customer buys it, you should be offering that user free training at a session near where they live. If they live in the middle of nowhere, let them have the training online - let them interact with a live session via the web. They shouldn’t have to go out and search for extra training, they should get it from the start from you, the supplier. Once that happens, users will happily start to talk about you and your product, because you are no longer selling them a gadget - you’re selling them a skillset. That’s a powerful marketing device.