Sector: Fitness Equipment

The Challenge: Create an instruction manual that guides customers through assembly of the DEX I and teaches them how to use it.

My Role: Copywriting, Page Layout, Graphic Design

Project Length: 2 Weeks

The DEX I was a new mainline product in Teeter’s catalogue, and I was tasked with creating the assembly instructions. I worked with the engineers to understand how the product was assembled and developed an intuitive instruction manual to guide the customers in assembly.

Familiarizing Myself with the DEX I

I first spent a day in the engineering room, and they introduced me to the new product and how it all came together. I first developed rough step-by-step instructions by breaking down the equipment into separate components. I then focused on an intuitive and physically convenient order in which these components could come together.

Copywriting & Rough Illustration

After getting the rough step-by-step approved, I moved on to creating a rough draft with rough sketches of the instructions. I went through several iterations and improved on the following key areas:

• Defining Terms: Sticking to well-defined and consistent terminology.

• Simple Syntax: As few compound sentences as possible to keep steps simple and readable.

• Error Prevention: Adding notes at critical stages to catch common mistakes early.

Page Layout & Graphic Design

When the final draft was approved, I moved on to laying out the pages in InDesign with the proper pagination. The engineer provided me with CAD-generated illustrations based on my sketches, which I modified in Illustrator for consistent stroke widths and step-specific annotations. Here is the final instruction manual.