Reading the manual
I never read anything as a kid. It was all about pictures for me. If I couldn’t figure out how to make something work, I’d ASK someone to help. And if that didn’t work, I’d just find something else to play with.
Years later I find myself very different, yet very much the same. I love to read. I have 6 books currently atop my nightstand that I’m “in the middle of”. They span American History to Marketing Trends. Comedy to Self-Help. And I’m not a quitter. I finish nearly every book I start.
But when it comes to manuals, I still don’t have the patience. Take for example the very interesting subject matter the image below depicts. Do you have the patience to read this junk?
A while back, I installed* some timers in place of some of my current light switches in my house. Not only do they deter burglars but they help cut back a ton on electricity. Very green.
After they were installed, they just needed to be programmed. Someone just needed to tell the darn things when to go on and off and on which days. I opened up the little sheet of paper and it unraveled into 16 panels. I freaked.
About a month later, I saw that a neighbor had the same switches. I asked him if it was complicated to do. He said it took him a few minutes to figure out. I went back home and looked at the manual again and nearly fainted.
Two months later, my sister was in town with her fiance. I figured this would be a great opportunity to let him prove himself to me! A little while later, the lights were going on and off at set times. Mission accomplished. And I let her marry the guy. Win-win.
About three weeks later, there was some sort of short and one of them stopped working. Ugh. (Wedding invitations had gone out so it was too late to call it off.) At roughly the same time, someone conveniently spilled coffee on the directions (did I mention they were sitting out on the counter this entire time? 4 months or so).
I finally stared those dripping directions down and realized this was a challenge I was going to have to deal with head on. So I pat dried the directions and began to look them over again. For the first time, I noticed that they were written in 8 different languages and so it was really only 2 pages worth! (And I thought my sister’s fiance was all that.)
I started reading. Things progressed VERY slowly at first. If it were a movie, people would have been asking for refunds after 2 minutes. I was actually contemplating getting a refund for the timers! I really had to get a hold of the ADHD issues and turn off everything else in my head (clearly no small feat).
But then something amazing happened: I started following! And within 10 minutes I had the entire thing figure it out and set. I was so ecstatic that I went and reprogrammed the others too! And then I called At&t to see if they needed anymore technicians. Apparently there were not hiring. Something about a recession.
But who would have thought that a dimmer/timer manual could be so life altering?? Ever since that glorious day a couple months back I have begun to invest 5 real minutes into learning about new things.
That means when I get the new digital camera I commit myself to learning about ONE feature besides zoom and shoot. That means when I come across a new website that looks interesting I read the “about us” or “how to” section and even watch a 2 minute video if they have one. And yes, that means when my kids get a new toy that I have to put together I read the instructions (poor kids’ playhouse is completely against code).
Okay, time for a counter point. If you’re the one taking a new camera to market. Or you’re launching a new website or a creating a new children’s toy, you have a responsibility to make the instructions dumb enough for guys like me! And for the love of steroids, PLEASE use visuals! In the film business we say, “show me, don’t tell me.” With instructions it should be “show me and tell me”.
We cool?
Great. If you don’t mind, I just got a new bag and it actually came with a manual. I’m going to go read about the wonderful benefits of pleather.
-Evan Lowenstein
*had someone else install it.
