Dynamic Multimedia Manual

Academic paper of HKU SPACE Community College

1. Background

Traditionally, a manual is a key tool to let people understand the features and the operating procedures of a machine. A Manual describes the functions of a machine, explains the manipulating steps and tells people the general information of a machine. A Manual acts as an interface between man and machine in the following studies [1].

The representation of a manual can be discussed from three perspectives; they are the media, the scope, and the user's understanding level. A manual can be represented in more than one kind of medium. The most usual ones are the paper media and the electronic media such as the online help and tutorial. The scope of the manuals is determined according to their usages. Some of these can be classified as brief notes that specify only the key features of the systems and some can be called as reference manuals that contain detailed information.