Product instructions in the digital age

We are nowadays surrounded and sometimes overwhelmed by exciting and fast changing products. Designers and manufacturers are very enthusiastic about inventing and redesigning them, but many are not very keen to create good instructions and teach users how to use the products correctly and safely. Many product instructions like these are not as useful as they should be. They are not effective or inclusive enough and sometimes are out of reach. This research recognised the problems with product instructions and aimed at finding solutions to enhance their performance, especially in this digital age. Related literature was reviewed, questionnaires were sent out to gather opinions and experiments were carried out to look for solutions. A product was chosen according to criteria related to experimental requirements. The instructions which accompanied the product were very poorly designed. These instructions were re-­‐designed in a traditional printed format and then an interactive multimedia format. These formats were tested using a group of Digital Natives (those who have grown up with digital devices) and a group of Digital immigrants (those who learnt to use digital devices as an adult). Conclusions are drawn in the end and recommendations are given for instruction planners.