Writing Manuals Or Other Large Publications

The Public Buildings Service of the General Services Administration (GSA) had long wrestled with large, dense customer guides that were vital to effectively using and disposing of government property worth billions. Our approach to writing manuals:

• Create a guide for writers. It detailed how to help readers find provisions quickly and understand them easily.

• Create model documents. We restructured and reworded three large customer guides as models that cut pages by a third, divided material into short chapters, added informative headings and bulleted lists, explained with clear examples, and converted officialese into a spoken, concise style.

The GSA Administrator cited their new customer-service guides as a great face for the new GSA: focused on customers, clear, and accessible. An added benefit reported by the Public Buildings Service: faster, better training for its own employees.