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 There are a number of different types of quick-reference guides, so you want to know exactly what your audience needs before creating one.

 Does your audience need a fast and easy way to get started using your product’s most basic features? Then you want to create a quick-start guide.

 Learn your audience's needs and expectations and then create the content they need to succeed.

 Or, maybe they need a one-stop reference for understanding your software’s UX? How about a glossary of common terms? Or an overview of your product’s core features?

 Or, imagine your users are moving from one piece of software to yours. What information might they need to make the transition easier? Think about things like differences in menu trees, icons, feature names, etc.

 All of those things (and WAY more) can be accomplished with a quick-reference guide.

 But, obviously, all of those are very different applications. Learn your audience’s needs and expectations and then create the content they need to succeed.

 Help your users get up and running quickly with your product.

 Similar to a quick-start guide, but offers an overview of how to use your product or service’s most basic or core features.

 Once your users are ready to take things to a new level, use a quick-reference guide to introduce them to other functionality or features.

 Did your software recently update? Use a quick-reference guide to walk your users through the changes.

 Got a process you need to explain? Show it!

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 If your product doesn’t require a huge manual, a quick-reference guide may be all the documentation you need.

 Essential elements to creating a great quick-reference or quick-start guide

 The more of these blogs I write, the more I become aware of consistent themes. Creating the content your audience wants (and not necessarily what you want to tell them) is one of the most consistent.

 As noted in this article about how to create more effective customer education content, there are a number of ways to figure out exactly what that is, including online forums, customer surveys, or even from your own technical support staff.

 Regardless of how you get it, delivering content your customers want and need will go a long way in ensuring the success of your quick-reference materials.

 The whole point of a quick-reference guide is to make information easily and readily accessible, so be sure it’s simple to understand.

 Avoid huge blocks of text as much as possible Instead, use visual elements such as screenshots with markup, icons, or product photos — and just enough text to ensure your points are clear.

 Keep it to one or two pages. Don’t try to cover everything from your full user manual. Think about it — a quick-reference guide that needs a table of contents probably isn’t all that quick.

 Choose the most important information to accomplish a particular task or that otherwise conveys what you want to show. Boil down complex concepts into their most basic form.

 Know what to leave in and what to leave out. Remember, you can always create another quick-reference guide to cover other important topics.