17 Oct 09: "... a manual is in the works"

Wired has a review of the Fitbit fitness and sleep tracker, which looks like a nifty device. More than just a pedometer, it can detect the intensity of your activity, and when worn while you are asleep, can detect the quality of your sleep from your body movements. The purchase price includes a lifetime membership in the Fitbit website for tracking all your data, including calories consumed.

However, it currently lacks a manual:
But in order to learn how to tell your Fitbit you are going to sleep, you have to hunt around on the website because there is no manual. The only instructions that come with the packaging are: To start using your Fitbit, go to fitbit.com/start. We assumed the dearth of information meant that Fitbit was so easy and self-explanatory, a manual wouldn't be needed. This is almost true, which is impressive and frustrating at the same time. We hear a manual is in the works, however.

On the Fitbit website, the "manual" is a single page with five bullet points. There is also an FAQ, which is a mix of questions about features, services, and how-tos.

There's just no excuse for this. Either do enough design and usability testing iterations to ensure that your product truly doesn't need a manual (good luck with that), or provide a manual. Hint: the number of products that are so intuitive to all users that no users need a manual is, to a first approximation, zero. Even iPods come with manuals. When I got my first iPod, I had to look in the manual to figure out how to change the volume — the famously "intuitive" interface was not obvious to me.

It's fine if the manual is all online, if the product's use is consistent with connecting to the internet. I'm just skeptical that five bullet points is all a user needs to understand the product.

As attracted as I am to Fitbit's combination of fitness and geekery, I won't be adding it to any wishlists until I hear about an actual manual.

Category: General | Posted by: jmswisher

Comments

02 Nov 09, 19:09:05 John Larsen wrote:

Hi Janet,

I saw your technical communication blog and appreciated the content of your most recent post. We need manuals, and that's the end of it. I'd like to keep in contact.

John Larsen,
http://sifm1.wordpress.com/

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