In today’s Japanese market, winning the customer’s trust in one’s company and products requires placing ever more attention to after-sales service. For instance, the corporate image is often determined by the quality and reliability of the after-sales service when problems occur after buying a product. With a wide variety of products to choose from, helpful and comprehensive operation manuals are particularly important as an aspect of after-sales service. This article highlights points that should be considered when producing printed operation manuals for the Japanese market. In addition, it provides concrete examples to illustrate these points.
The proper form of manuals for home appliances
In Japan, instruction manuals are defined as "an important means of conveying procedures for the correct, safe use of products to consumers, including information required to use products properly, to maintain them correctly, and to secure user safety" (From the "Handbook for preventing accidents resulting from misuse of consumer products" published by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation).
Instructions for using products commonly include combinations of embedded information, electronic manuals (CDs or HTML files) and printed manuals (books). The following elements are essential components of every instruction manual:
(1) Information required for consumer protection under the Product Liability Act
Under the law, this is referred to as warning notices. Inclusion of such warning notices in manuals is mandatory, and in Japan, ...
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