Armed with first-hand experience, I recommended to Nokia that they use the Web site as an after-market service vehicle by allowing me to re-write the manuals in a very easy-to-understand manner. I’ve had experience in technical writing as well as explaining complicated concepts in a simple way through my years of teaching applications and technology. The Web gives us as much room as we need without having to worry about the cost of printing. I also suggested using Shockwave Flash to show each and every step with a graphical representation of what the user should be doing and what result they would see on the screen. The final cap was implementing a JavaScript-based dynamic menu system I designed to allow the questioner to target in on exactly what question he or she might have without wading through large indexes. It asked whether they were a beginner or expert user, showed them a category and from that category either a sub-category or a specific question. All without having to load a new page and wait for more information to download.

We drew the phones using vector graphics for photorealism to aid in the download speed and segmented each question/answer scenario into a separate, small-sized Flash movie. Each approximately 25k in size and over 100 in all for each phone model. We also had to draw the phones’ unique character sets for when alphanumerics appear on the phones’ screens.

The user sees the question repeated and then each step of the answer shows up, point-by-point. The timing is such that after each point appears, they have enough time to see the relevant animation, if any. After each step, the user is prompted to click the “next step” or “repeat step” buttons to continue.

If there is no answer to the user’s question, I added a facility for them to fill out a form asking it so a Nokia representative can answer them directly and we can, if required, add the new module. This greatly improved the relationship between the brand and the consumer. I have suggested creating a CD-ROM version to be included with each phone as an alternate to the print version.