User documentation
User documentation explains how the customer plans to use the system that you’ve created for them. User documentation doesn’t always need to be an actual document that users read. You can create video tutorials, PowerPoint slide decks that guide the user through a process, support Power Pages, FAQs, and step-by-step instructions on how to use the system in a document.
Often, users want a quick start guide. Creating a PowerPoint slide deck that runs through the basics of the system can be helpful for that purpose.
Short videos about how to use the system can be extremely valuable for your users. The users can choose to consume the content in their own time and get smaller bits of information that’s specific to what they need. Training videos have become increasingly popular because they’re easier for users to consume. The negative aspect about videos is that they’re difficult to update. If you update the system to the latest version, and multiple changes have been made, you’ll need to create new training videos.
Often, full user documentation describes how the customer plans to use the solution. Additionally, it should include how the user plans to navigate in the system, the purpose of the solution (why they’ve chosen to implement it), and the type of users who will use the solution.
You should also include the project scope, describing the reasons for creating the solution the way that you've and the reasons for including certain processes. Equally as important is to explain the reason why you’ve excluded some processes and features. This detailed documentation will help make it easier for users to understand why you’ve built the system a certain way.
A good way to start to your user document is an explanation of key terms. Microsoft technology is filled with acronyms, and most users won’t understand them. It’s good practice to provide a list of acronyms and Dynamics 365-specific terms that you’re using in the user document and what they mean.
Remember, you’re creating this document for the users. Therefore, make sure that it’s written so that they’ll understand how to use the system that you’ve created. The users aren’t interested in knowing the technical aspect of how you’ve created the solution. Rather, they want to know and learn about what’s important to them and how the system can help them do their jobs.
In many systems, you’ve likely created different solutions for different user groups. For example, the accountant wants to learn how to build customers in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, whereas the CFO wants to know how to get reports from the system.
When creating the user documentation, you can divide it into sections so that each user can find the section that applies to them. For example, the event coordinator has recently started using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights - Journeys. They're only interested in The Events section rather than the section about how to create a marketing email. However, others in the marketing team would find the Marketing Emails section to be vital information. Make sure that you've a good index and sensible headlines to help the user navigate to the sections of the document that are most relevant to them and their jobs.
You can also create frequently asked questions (FAQs) and troubleshooting guides in your user documentation. An FAQ is a list of the most frequently asked questions that your users might have. The list should be short and only answer the most common questions. A troubleshooting guide helps the user troubleshoot some of the most common issues that they might have. If the user can’t find their project, and you’ve deployed Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations, one possible solution can be that they’re looking in the wrong view. The simple solution to this problem can be to change the view. The solution might seem easy to you, but if the user is new, they can become frustrated when they don’t understand how something works.
Visual guides can help elevate an explanation. When teaching people how to use the system, make sure that you add images of the system to enhance their learning.