Don't use corporate jargon! Phrase titles how customers and employees would talk about the procedure.

• What words would they use?
• How would they ask the question?

If the guide includes procedures for several tasks, then it can be difficult to find the correct one if it's buried in the middle of the article. Each digital guide should only cover one procedure.

• Are you trying to fit a manual's worth of content into one digital guide?
• Does the guide cover more than one topic/procedure?
• Do you need to break the tasks into smaller articles?
• You may need to separate procedures into different articles and link them if you need to connect multiple procedures.

You can add additional search terms to make the article easier to find if people are using other phrases to search for the article.

Avoid long step-by-step lists. Instead, group steps into sub-tasks.

• For example, INSTEAD OF:
  1. Click on this thing
  2. Do that thing
  3. Do something else
  4. And one more thing
  5. And don't forget this
  6. And more stuff
  7. And something else
• DO THIS
  1. Create Account
     1. Click on this thing
     2. Do that thing
  2. Update Profile
     1. Do something else
     2. And one more thing
     3. And don't forget this
  3. Add Permissions
     1. And more stuff
     2. And something else

• Use foldable sections to contain helpful information that can enhance understanding. 
  • A good use-case might be hiding an example of what a completed transaction looks like or including foundational information. 
• Do NOT use foldable sections to hide critical information.
• If there are questions or decisions or quality checks that you need the reader to perform, do NOT include the details or the variables in foldable sections.
• Do NOT include foldable sections within foldable sections.

Foundational Knowledge: Contextual or background knowledge that helps users understand basic concepts.

Actionable Knowledge: The action-based knowledge, such as how to follow a digital guide. You need foundational knowledge to perform actionable knowledge.

Don't bold everything!

• Determine what you will bold
  • It could be actions you want users to take (such as click start).
  • It could simply be important text that you want to stick out

Be cautious about using too many stylized boxes, even if they are different colors.

• If everything is a yellow box, then it loses its purpose.
• If you alternate between yellow boxes, green boxes, and blue boxes, then it looks like a rainbow and is difficult to read.

Don’t write a paragraph explaining how to handle a task. Instead, use a numbered list with bulleted instructions.

• Instead of: First, you will want to take the piece out of the part. Once the part is out of the piece, you will see that there is a coil. This coil should be circular and it will likely be inserted into the gap. Once you see the coil is in the gap, you will want to take the piece and put it over the coil.
• Do this:
  1. Take piece out of part
  2. Confirm circular coil is in the gap
  3. Place piece over the coil

Instead of separating lists with commas, use bullet points. For example:

• Instead of: You will need to confirm you have the following items: tinfoil, chicken, sauce, oregano, and parsley.
• Do this: Confirm you have the following:
  • tinfoil
  • chicken
  • sauce
  • oregano
  • parsley

If actions need to be taken in a specific order, don’t use a bulleted list use a numbered list. For example:

• Instead of:
  • Take piece out of part
  • Confirm circular coil is in the gap
  • Place piece over the coil
• Do this:
  1. Take piece out of part
  2. Confirm circular coil is in the gap
  3. Place piece over the coil

If you are using if-then statements to describe a step, switch your article to a decision tree. For example:

• Instead of: Review the user profile. If the user has been deactivated, then you will need to reactivate the user, confirm their account status, then add them to the group. If the user has not been deactivated, you will need to confirm their account status and add them to the group.
• Do this:
  1. Review the user profile.
  2. Is the user active?
     • Yes
       1. Confirm their account status
       2. Add them to the group
     • No
       1. Reactivate the user
       2. Confirm their account status
       3. Add them to the group

• Too few screenshots and the user can get lost
• Too many and it becomes overkill
• Include screenshots when they are needed

If you are including screenshot instructions, combine headings with regular text and images. For example:

• Navigate to Users
  1. Click Account
  2. Click Users

Clearly use arrows, boxes, and numbers to point to the clicks and steps the reader needs to take.

The purpose of the header is to break the document up. Headings should be short phrases. If you need more explanation, include a paragraph of text below.

For example: