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Proficiency Check | Creating a Personal User Manual

Published about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Proficiency Check | Creating a Personal User Manual

Let's talk about an asset that has helped me with my builds, especially when working with a SME, the personal user manual. This asset is meant to support you in onboarding a SME/stakeholder/manager to the best ways of working with you and build rapport.

Why create a Personal User Manual?

Watch the below video (or click here) to find out.

video preview​

In this video, I discuss my personal user manual. You can view that by clicking the link.

The Benefits of a Personal User Manual

  • Level sets with stakeholders so they know how to work best with you. I can't tell you how nice it's been to see stakeholders go back into their messages and add emojis to help me process their intended tone! But more than that, it's helpful to know they understand what they can expect from me.
  • Builds rapport - When I share my personal user manual with them, because I am open about being autistic, a lot of times stakeholders are then willing to share about themselves. One SME shared with me that they're dyslexic, which is huge to know since I was going to hand them slides to review.
  • May support accessibility. Because I disclose that I'm autistic and then share my accommodation needs in this document, I tend to get a response of "Mandy, everyone could use these." Which is true! And because I got them to agree to that at the beginning of the project, it's easier to push for accessibility needs later in the build if I need.

Creating your own personal user manual

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Brainstorm your needs.

Use this worksheet to brainstorm for your personal user manual. If you need an explanation of the worksheet, you can view the below video.

video preview​

Create your personal user manual.

Now that you've brainstormed your needs, create your personal user manual. I used Google Docs to create mine, and you could do the same. Or you could create a slide to include it in any project kick-off decks.

Consider these as you create your personal user manual:

  • Clarity and Conciseness - Your manual should be clear, concise, and free of unnecessary jargon. All critical information is conveyed within one page or slide. If you create a slide, make sure to include animations to build it over time.
  • Personal Style and Tone - Your tone should be professional yet approachable. Revise your language to be a request rather than a directive.
  • Key Information - Cover essential sections: communication style, availability, collaboration expectations, teamwork tips, and boundaries/non-negotiables.
  • SME-Centered Approach - Make sure your personal user manual demonstrates a focus on supporting and empowering your SME with specific suggestions for collaboration
  • Visual Presentation and Formatting - Your manual should be well-organized, and easy to read with headings and bullet points. If you plan to include this in your portfolio, I highly recommend to make it visually appealing to show off your graphic design skill.

Get feedback.

Once you've created your first draft, get feedback from a trusted colleague. If you do not have that person or want additional feedback, you can use AI for feedback.

Upload your personal user manual using the paperclip icon in ChatGPT and copy-paste the below prompt.

“
Take on the role of a subject-matter expert whom I am going to work with. This will be your first time working with an instructional designer (me) to build a learning solution. I'm sharing my personal user manual with you so you know how to effectively work with me throughout the design process. Evaluate its effectiveness and provide feedback to reduce misunderstanding, build rapport, and ease the design process."

Pssst, Design Time with Mandy Brown has an AI-prompt lesson so you can craft prompts like the one above like a pro!

Don't forget to review (and potentially revise) after each project.

 Any good instructional designer is going to come back to this and revise this. You're going to run into moments where you recognize that you could have handle this better. So remember to include your personal user manual in your iteration process! This will evolve as you know yourself better and is something that significantly helped my instructional design work.

Next Steps

  • Use your personal user manual in your next kick-off or meet-the-SME meeting. Use it to guide the conversation and make sure to ask your SME what they need to work best with you.
  • If you feel safe doing so, share your personal user manual with your supervisor and get feedback.

Did you notice?

This is one of many on-demand lessons in Design Time with Mandy Brown.
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If you're interested in having access to more lessons, live workshops with me, and feedback on assets, enroll today!

Design Time with Mandy Brown

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Experience Points

With Mandy Brown, EMBA

Instructional design stories/tools, wellness strategies, and job hunting guidance to progress your journey! I’m Mandy Brown, an autistic nerd right outside of Austin. I empower individuals to find work they love, heal from burnout, and grow professionally—all while staying true to themselves. If that's your jam, join me and 300+ readers every Monday morning for radical self-care and gentle professionalism.

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