Project Overview
For a graduate document design course, I was tasked with redesigning a technical manual. In my work as assistant office manager at Pure Water Products, I saw the impact of ineffective document design firsthand when working with the manual for Pura UV ultraviolet filtration units. Employees at Pure Water Products use this manual often to support customers as they try to repair or replace parts of their water filtration units. I chose to redesign this manual to create something useful for my professional work, as well as satisfy requirements for graduate study.
Tools
Adobe InDesign
Photoshop
Skills
Editing
Document Design
Usability
The Process
Design Overhaul
To create a manual in which the visual design enhanced the content, rather than detracted from it, I made the following changes to the Pura UV Water Treatment Systems Manual.
Before and After
Manual Cover
The above image is the original cover of the Pura Manual. While the cover of the manual lets the user know what units are discussed inside, it lacks the look of a professional cover.
The new cover conveys brand image, and has a professional look.
Manual Page
The original page lacks consistent, effective emphasis and visual appeal. The page contains important information that can affect user safety and product functionality, but this information isn't emphasized appropriately. The warning (at top) is centered and bold, but since bold is used elsewhere to indicate cautions and headings, it doesn't stand out.
In the redesign, I use color, iconography, and boxes to indicate warnings. I also use color and boxes to indicate notes and cautions to create a consistent emphasis strategy.
Table Redesign
The original table does not facilitate easy scanning. Some of the columns span multiple rows making it difficult for the user to determine which row(s) the information applies to.
In the redesign, I include column information for each individual row. I also use gray shading to make scanning the table easy and remove cell borders to reduce visual clutter.