Chrysler Drops Long Car Manuals in Favor of Short Guides + Video

September 30th, 2009 | Posted in Technical Writing 5 Comments »

Chrysler moved their car manuals from the traditional thick paper manual to a shorter format accompanied by a DVD. Chrysler says the switch will not only save 20,000 trees a year, the videos on the DVD will also be more helpful to users trying to perform tasks. The shorter quick reference guides will still be 60-80 pages long (judging from the photo below, they also look more attractively designed).

Chrysler's new documentation strategy: short guides + video + DVD

With my emphasis on quick reference guides and video tutorials, I feel like I’ve followed a similar move as Chrysler’s. I do like to have a car manual in my glove box, but only for simple, quick information — what type of oil, what does this or that light mean, how do you change a bulb, etc. I don’t need to know the full array of reference information. When I need that info, I can look it up on a computer and print off the relevant topics.

(There’s a brief discussion on the latest New York Times Tech Talk podcast about the move from paper manuals to DVDs.)

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Tags: DVDs, length, manuals, printed manuals, quick reference guides

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trainey says:

October 1, 2009 at 7:19 am

Interesting. When I bought my ride-on mower a few years ago it came with a somewhat brief manual and a VHS tape. I’ve referred to the manual a dozen times – the tape is still in the original wrapping in a drawer in the garage.
I’d personally be less inclined to watch a video for info about my car than I would a 2 minute tutorial about software. It seems like it’s about the time commitment – the quick 30 second to 2 min software tutorials don’t interrupt your work flow – and can be watched while doing other things. Longer informational videos require dedicating time that most people don’t have or just aren’t interested in using for that purpose.

Tom says:

October 5, 2009 at 8:02 am

Ted, thanks for your insight about how you’re using your lawnmower manual. I have to agree with your general perspective here. If there’s one manual that I consult and prefer to be printed, it’s probably my car manual. I also have a lawnmower manual that I consult every now and then. I’m sure I would quickly lose the DVD. Still, I am excited about the multimedia possibilities for instruction with DVDs. I would love to see a video of someone explaining how to check all the fluids rather than looking at print diagrams of engines.

Keith Hoffman says:

October 1, 2009 at 9:19 am

I believe this is the tip of the iceberg, but I do wonder why they chose to use a DVD? Web video is oozing from the Internet, and many, many folks who’d be buying a new vehicle have access to high speed/web video. So, why burn a DVD at all?

Certainly, this is a step in the right direction, but a better solution might have been to print the smaller manual and route the car’s owner to the website for the quick shot tutorials and additional information.

By they, I’ve used the analogy with cars for a long time. I don’t think we’re far off from a world where I’m just watching the video on my mobile device anyway. So, I’m changing the oil myself, and run into a snag. I whip out my iPhone and find the Chrysler oil change video tutorial and walk through it step by step. Bing, bang, boom.

Tom says:

October 5, 2009 at 8:00 am

Keith, thanks for your comment. I agree that they should put their videos online — it would give them better visibility and access. Also, re the shorter guides, I believe they are still printing these.

Hey, on a related note, I haven’t heard from you in a while. Are you still publishing podcasts? I checked your blog, twowrites.com, but didn’t see any content.

- Keith Hoffman says:
  
  October 5, 2009 at 10:35 am
  
  Hi Tom,
  
  It has been a while, but I’ve been keeping on eye on your site. The only podcast I’m working on right now is on blog talk radio as part of the Fantasy Sports Channel. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fsclive/2009/10/05/FSC-Live.
  
  I backed off the blog this year, mostly because I was not relevant, timely, and didn’t have a whole lot of focus with it. I hope to pick it back up at some point in the next 6 months or so, but it depends on a lot of my ‘free’ time.
  
  Keep up the good work with I’d Rather be Writing.
  
  Keith

I’d Rather Be Writing – Tom Johnson