Enhance your customer's experience with professional product instructions

Industry research by Accenture suggests that manufacturers can enhance the out-of-box experience by providing better customer education. “One-page quick start guides are certainly a good first step in terms of helping consumers set up, install, or use a new product. These guides are much easier to understand than lengthy instruction manuals. Many Consumer Electronics OEMs have recognized and confronted this issue by developing visually oriented set up guides. Similarly, multimedia customer education resources—such as accompanying DVDs and online tutorials—provide an engaging way to learn how to use a new product.”

Likewise, Infographics® has found that using visual graphics to communicate step-by-step assembly, set-up, or installation processes is a universally understood. We can attest to the old adage: A picture is worth a thousand words.

Case in point, OXO International, a company that was founded on consumer-focused philosophies, enlisted Infographics to develop a user-friendly quick start guide to accompany their V-Blade Mandoline Slicer. The quick start guide needed to accomplish three objectives: familiarize the user with the various blades and cutting options, demonstrate safe assembly, usage, and cleaning of the product, and bring about a positive ownership experience.

The Infographics quick start guide identified all the components of the OXO slicer, used step-by-step visual graphics to show safe blade assembly and removal, and included separate usage sections to clearly demonstrate how to julienne, dice, straight and crinkle cut fruits and vegetables.

Not only was the OXO V-Blade Mandoline Slicer named Editor’s Pick in “Vegetarian Times” magazine, but the article also made mention of the slicer’s easy-to-use Quick Start Guide to Slicing.
You can learn more about our visual approach to product communications at http://www.info-graphics.com.

The hidden costs of customer returns

We know money is tight, so why should you invest in professional product assembly and operating instructions? Because you could significantly bolster your bottom line.

Consider this, Accenture’s High Performance Business research revealed that in 2007, consumer electronics manufacturers, communication carriers and electronics retailers spent an estimated $13.8 billion in the U.S. assessing, repairing, reboxing, restocking and, reselling, returned merchandise. Of this returned merchandise more than two thirds (68%) could be characterized as “No Trouble Found” (NTF). In other words, the device met the manufacturer’s specifications, but somehow failed to meet the end user’s (customer) expectations.

Considering the scale of these costs, we believe companies make a mistake by not putting more emphasis on their product instructions.

Returns prevention—especially when it is related to completely functional, non-defective products—is often not given enough focus as a problem aspect although it has the highest potential to impact results. By taking active steps to prevent customer returns upfront, companies can competitively differentiate themselves, deliver impressive gains to the bottom line and achieve high performance.

How? Accenture’s research indicated that weaknesses in the design, packaging and documentation could have a major impact on NTF returns. Infographics specializes in producing visual instructions that simply describe actions and clearly communicate complex information. Our illustrations serve as a universal language in product communications and bridge educational barriers. Our visual instructions simply describe actions and clearly communicate complex information.

As a result, our clients have experienced fewer product returns, improved customer service, reduced product liability claims, lower translation costs, improved brand perception, increased repeat business, and better ownership experiences.

Find out more at http://www.info-graphics.com.

Protect your profits by providing professional product instructions.

Imagine you are a consumer and at the moment, tight for cash. That’s not too difficult in today’s economic climate. But you need to make a large purchase for your home. It could be a piece of furniture, some new lighting or a piece of technology.

Maybe you surf the net or browse the mall to find what you are looking for. You consider what is in your price range and what is offering the most value for your money, finally deciding on the product you want. Having parted with your hard-earned cash, you drive home with your new purchase in eager anticipation.

Open the box - and that’s when you have to face the instructions! How many people do you know who roll their eyes or give a wry smile when they talk about their terrible experiences with product instructions?

The humble product instruction gets stuffed in the product box and is left to speak for itself and indeed, for the brand it represents. And not just on the day the product is purchased, but possibly for years to come as well. It has to work hard, very hard. It needs to maintain the confidence of the buyer, explain how the product works or how the product is assembled or installed. It may even have to explain how it interfaces with other products, give the necessary safety warnings, and provide maintenance advice and trouble shooting pointers.

And, oh - if that’s not enough, it also has to be clear, reliable, well written, well designed and clearly illustrated. It needs to answer questions during its useful lifetime and finally ensure safe disposal of the product many years down the line. It’s a tough job being a product instruction booklet!

We are bombarded by slick advertising every day on the roads, on TV and on the internet, yet once we have a product in our hands our main source of information about its workings and complexities are all contained in a little black and white book that mostly, let’s face it, has a really poor reputation.

This unassuming booklet or user guide really is the Cinderella of company literature - but think about it - it’s the lasting voice of your brand that installs itself in customers’ homes long after the advertising campaign is forgotten. It has to be a hard worker. One survey in the USA indicated that 76% of consumers reported they “always” save their user manuals. Do you have a drawer, cupboard or file that houses all your instruction manuals? Ask around, a lot of people do! These little booklets really are part of our everyday lives.

There’s no doubt that a good set of instructions improves a customer’s ‘out of box’ experience. Just think. A product that comes out of the box with clear, easy-to-follow instructions that help get the product up and running quickly reassures the customer that they have chosen the right brand. It creates a warm feeling. Satisfaction. Good instructions don’t generate fits of anger, irritation and disappointment like poor ones do. And importantly for manufacturers, brand owners and retailers, according to our research, repeat purchase is more likely in the future. This is good for brand owners, good for customers, and a significant advantage when trading conditions are tough.

If user guides could talk they would be lobbying for better investment, good design and user testing to make sure that they can do a really good job of advising customers well into the future.

There are more reasons why your brand should have good product instructions. The whole supply chain benefits through reduced costs. There will be fewer calls to help lines, less staff time dealing with queries and complaints, and a drop in the numbers of ‘no fault found’ returns by up to 20%. Which means the high cost of reverse logistics will also fall.

--Used by permission from Craig Thatcher, consumer expert.
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