The Demise of the Manual · 2016 webinar archive
From finding a manual to finding an answer.
JoAnn Hackos of Comtech Services and Nenad Furtula of Bluestream were the announced presenters for The Demise of the Manual. The 2016 webinar questioned how people find and use product information.
The 2016 announcement
Archive · Published 14 March 2016. Event invitations and roles reflect the original publication period; the event has passed.
Learn about the latest trends with JoAnn Hackos of Comtech Services and Nenad Furtula of Bluestream in this upcoming free webinar sponsored by the Center for Information-Development Management (CIDM) on March 23, 2016 at 9am PDT | 12pm EDT | 4pm GMT.
Abstract
Manuals are rapidly becoming the last items people rely on to find information about the products they have purchased. Leafing through the pages of a printed copy seems too old today. In fact, even finding the printed manual may be difficult in most environments. Instead, we search for answers to our questions using the ubiquitous Google search. Most of the manuals that were in our kitchen drawers are available online but do we really want a PDF of a manual to try to page through? PDF searches are pretty much useless for finding the specific answers to our questions or solving our problems. Instead of a PDF, we’d like a page with the answer, something we often can find without going to the product website. Topics are the new information resource.
Presented by JoAnn Hackos, Comtech Services and Nenad Furtula, Bluestream
Editorial context · October 2026
The Demise of the Manual webinar
The original abstract argued for topic-based answers rather than making the reader navigate an entire manual. Its statements about manuals and PDF search reflect the presenters’ 2016 perspective.
Make an answer useful outside the larger book
A reader arriving directly at a topic needs enough context to know whether it applies. State the product or situation, the task being addressed, any necessary prerequisites, and what success looks like. Link to supporting information when it is needed, but do not require the reader to reconstruct the basic purpose of the topic from an unseen table of contents.
Review a topic from the reader’s starting point
Can I identify the task?
Use a title and opening that make the question being answered clear. Avoid an answer that begins halfway through an unstated process.
Does this apply to me?
Make the relevant product, version, role, or condition visible where it affects the instruction.
What happens next?
Include the expected result and a sensible route to a related task or troubleshooting information when needed.
Keep both the topic and the publication in view
A self-contained answer and a coherent publication can serve different reading situations. Review a topic on its own, then review it in the larger sequence to check that navigation and relationships still make sense. The useful design question is which experience the reader needs, rather than assuming that a single format is appropriate for every task.
Archive source: The Demise of the Manual, 14 March 2016.