(In this article, we refer to both industrial design engineers with a Master degree and the ones with a Bachelor degree)
Designing manuals: a specialty
Manuals: undoubtedly, you’ve come across them before. But did you know that designing manuals is a true specialty? And you, as an industrial design engineer, have an excellent foundation to become an expert in this field. Find out about our perspective on your qualities!
Creative
Creativity is inherently a core quality of an industrial product designer. A creative mindset is invaluable in translating complex procedures into understandable instructions. A creative approach ensures that information is presented in an engaging and memorable manner, making it easier for the user to stay engaged. And an engaged user leads to a better customer journey, higher customer satisfaction, and correct and safe product use. Something our clients benefit from.
Analytical
The analytical ability of an industrial designer is useful in dissecting products and processes. This ability enables designers to identify crucial steps and understand the essence of a task (approaching it logically) and translate it into clear, understandable instructions for the user. An indispensable trait in the development of manuals.
Structured
The structured approach of an industrial design engineer in product design seamlessly transfers to the creation of manuals. Guiding clients step by step toward the desired end result is – like the structured approach to the design process – an interactive process. Being able to switch gears, work methodically, and not lose sight of the end goal are crucial. Industrial design engineers are familiar with the required mentality, and their accumulated experience is extremely beneficial in manual design.
Technically proficient
You can’t explain what you don’t understand yourself. Technical knowledge is an indispensable asset in creating manuals. Industrial designer engineers, with their technical background, have the skill to translate complex technical information into accessible instructions, enabling users to use products correctly and safely without needing to know all the ins and outs of a product. And without being bothered by technical jargon or complicated language.
Practical skills
Experience with various software packages is why industrial designer engineers quickly adapt to new software. But don’t be mistaken. Many of the tools that an industrial design engineer already knows can be directly applied to manual design. This allows an industrial design engineer to easily hit the ground running.
Understands what others are talking about
During their education, industrial design engineers have already worked in multidisciplinary teams. This helps them understand what people from other disciplines are talking about. Our clients are experts in their own fields, representing diverse areas such as research & development, marketing, sales, and QA/QC. Understanding what others are talking about makes communicating about a wide range of topics much simpler and more effective, leading to more efficiently developed manuals.
User-centric thinking
Designing for an end user has been central throughout the entire study. Who is the user, and what are their needs? Thinking from the user’s perspective is precisely what writing manuals is all about. Understanding who you’re designing for ensures that the end product (the manual in this case) will be of high quality.
Attention to detail
Small mistakes can have significant consequences. Industrial designer engineers are confronted with this early in their education. This leads to a sense of urgency regarding accuracy, which is crucial in manual design. Additionally, they also develop another form of attention to detail: a sense of aesthetics. This is extremely useful in, among other things, designing documentation – an underestimated aspect of effectively conveying information to the user!
Communication skills
Good verbal communication and a clear writing style are essential ingredients when making technical information understandable for non-technical readers. Without these skills, it’s difficult to get to the core. Both when gathering necessary information from a client and processing it into a manual. Basically, through writing reports and giving presentations, as an industrial design engineer, you acquire these skills. Combined with the aforementioned analytical skills, you’re well-equipped.
Project management skills
Projects with deadlines that need to be effectively managed: the program was overflowing with them. As a creator of manuals, you need the same skills to do your job well. Especially when managing multiple projects simultaneously, your experience in this area comes in handy.
From a solid foundation to expert
The above characteristics and competencies form a solid foundation for the specialty of ‘Manual Design’. They make you as an industrial design engineer a very suitable candidate for this vacancy. And if you’re not yet proficient in all areas? Don’t worry. We won’t throw you in at the deep end. We’ll train you intensively in the first few weeks so that you can quickly navigate various software packages. This includes packages like Solidworks Composer, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, but also our in-house developed software.
Additionally, we’ll teach you a lot about technical writing and technical illustrating. A colleague will guide you intensively in the first few weeks to get you off to a good start. But even after that, we’ll be there for you. Who are we? We’re a young team of enthusiastic multitaskers. A large part of these creatives is, just like you, industrial design engineer. With us, there’s plenty of room to develop yourself in specific areas: think of writing texts, creating illustrations, formatting manuals.
So you have the solid foundation, and together, we’ll help you evolve into a creative specialist capable of designing content for different target audiences.
Curious?
Has the above sparked your curiosity? Looking at your own capabilities in a different light now and feel like this vacancy Industrial Design Engineer might be right for you? Then don’t wait any longer. We at Manualise would love to hear from you!