More than a decade developing instruction manuals for Truper
I've just celebrated a little over eleven years as a Truper supplier, developing instruction manuals for their electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, gasoline, and cordless power tools and machines. More than a decade of work deserves recognition, so let this article serve as a celebration.
I closed 2022 with 525 completed manuals, which are currently in circulation in different parts of the world, escorting their respective equipment, each of them with the mission of explaining to the user the best way to operate their tool to obtain its full potential safely.
All-in-one project
Without a doubt, the development of Truper 's instruction manuals is one of my most cherished projects and one of the most unique as well, since it brings together instructional, graphic and systematic design, as well as writing, user experience, infographics, technical illustration, vector drawing and isometric art.
Design to contribute
I've never intended for my work to go viral on social media, be front-page newsstands, or grace the cover of best-sellers. On the contrary, I'm extremely satisfied that my work can be stored in a workshop's warehouse or on a shelf, waiting to fully fulfill its purpose: to be useful. Useful and always at hand whenever anyone involved in construction, carpentry, plumbing, manufacturing, or simply needing to do a home repair needs it, as in Carole's case, who was grateful to easily understand the instructions for her cordless drill. That my work transcends in this way is undoubtedly one of the reasons why I'm so attached to this project.
Perhaps I'm being too idealistic, but that has been essential to maintaining this project with the same manufacturing quality for years.
Origin of the Truper instruction manuals project
But how did it all begin?
I think many people might find its unexpected origin interesting, especially freelance designers :
In mid-to-late 2012, my dad decided to bring a tool home; however, a dusty box sitting in the middle of the living room wasn't exactly a good idea for my mom, who soon called me to ask if I was interested in picking it up. I've always been fascinated by tools, so intrigued, I went to get it.
It was a Truper benchtop jigsaw, model SCA-16X; dusty, but in good condition. Although I was able to get it working, I looked for the instruction manual to find out more about how to use it (yes, I'm that kind of person). But I couldn't find it. Luckily for me, it had been lost. However, I easily found it on the Truper website, which has always had its instruction manuals online.
The initiative
The difficult part was understanding the manual. This wasn't surprising: manuals are usually complicated, cumbersome, boring, and aesthetically unappealing.
Parenthetically: At that time, I had completed a decade working as an infographic designer for various technology publications and had made progress in designing occupational health and safety campaigns for industrial and manufacturing processes.
So that was the spark. With the experience I had gained, my immediate reaction was to think, "I could improve these instructions."
I didn't want to miss the chance to find out, so I set to work to conduct an experiment, redesigning and creating from scratch a couple of illustrations to visually explain the saw's ignition.
Time to share
I liked the experiment and it was time to share the results, but with whom? I didn't know anyone at Truper and there was only a contact link on their website. It was like throwing a message in a bottle into the sea… Since I had no other option, I sent my experiment despite my skepticism, explaining the reason for my initiative and offering my help in improving their instructions.
And guess what? A few days later, I received a reply. I had imagined that the person responsible for checking and answering emails would be some absent-minded intern, but no. I got a reply from the Marketing Department!
It was a specific email asking if I wanted to work in their Mexico City offices. I replied immediately, and from then on, I was very clear: I work independently, and my freedom is non-negotiable. I asked for half an hour to talk in person, and long story short, that half hour turned into eleven years of collaborating with Truper .
Objective of the instructions
The objective of the meeting was to develop a set of instruction manuals that would help reduce product returns. These returns often occurred because consumers didn't understand how to operate their tools, assuming they weren't working correctly, when in reality the manuals available at the time weren't very helpful, leading to equipment returns.
To achieve this goal, I had to put myself in the customer's shoes, which came naturally because I'm a tool enthusiast and buy them regularly, so it was easy to make a list of the things that bother me about an instruction manual as a consumer:
- Redundant information.
- Poor writing.
- Poor visual references.
- Lack of design and graphic quality.
- Lack of logic in the order of the steps of an instruction.
- That it is not practical.
These are genuine communication problems that hinder understanding of the instructions, so users avoid reading them, and when they do, misunderstandings, doubts, and consequently, failures, returns, and, in the worst cases, accidents are common. Headaches no one wants.
After-sales service
In my opinion, after-sales service begins with the instruction manual. As a customer, when I read it, I expect to feel supported and guided by the brand I trusted when purchasing one of its products. It's incredibly disconcerting when this doesn't happen and I'm forced to resort to other communication channels, such as calling technical support or going to the store where I bought the tool to request an exchange or repair. These things represent an expense not only for me as a customer, but also for the brand, which has to manage after-sales service that could have been avoided if the instruction manual had done its job.
The stages of the project
So I proposed two stages for the project; the second one being optional. First, to design a single instruction manual that would serve as a template to be applied internally to the rest of the tools if the second stage, which would be to develop the instruction manuals for the rest of their tools with the same design approach, was not continued.
I am still working on the second stage, with an additional objective: If the first instruction manual fulfilled its function, the rest should do, at the very least, the same, and maintain a continuous improvement process to polish details without breaking with its line, systematizing the design.
Systematized design
You've probably experienced this: You call a company's support line and are helped by someone efficient and friendly; later you call the same support line and are helped by someone else with poor or even disappointing service, so it's easy to assume that it's a lottery where you hope to get lucky and find the right person to help you.
I didn't want my instruction manuals to be like this. If you buy a Truper drill today, you'll be "served" by its instruction manual just as well, or even better, than you were "served" by the instruction manual for the circular saw you bought nine years ago. I'm working to systematize the design of my instruction manuals so that this level of service is maintained across all tools and so that repeat customers feel familiar with it. One example is the illustrations .
Stay tuned for part 2!
Would you like to take a look at my work process? If so, stay tuned for the second part of this article, where I'll explain how I create the instructions. You can follow me on Instagram ; I'll announce it there when it's ready.
Thank you for reading and even more for sharing.
Francisco GyG
