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APPLIED RESEARCH SUMMARYr Examines the attitudes of American and

Japanese readers concerning manual formatsthat differ in their use of illustrations

r Finds that subjects preferred a combination oftext and illustrations, and believed that it wouldbe more effective than the text-only format

Illustrations in User Manuals:

Preference and Effectivenesswith Japanese andAmerican ReadersWAKA FUKUOKA, YUKIKO KOJIMA, AND JAN H. SPYRIDAKIS

INTRODUCTION

With the increasing globalization of business,document designers are being required tolocalize user manuals. Many American com-panies that export their products to Japan and

vice versa are localizing the manuals that accompany theproducts. In the localization process, texts are translatedinto target languages, yet in most cases, the manual formatand the illustrations often remain the same. The use of astatic format may be caused by document designers notknowing how different people from different cultures useand comprehend illustrations.

Although much has been written about how to designthe “look” of illustrations for different cultures to ensurethat the use of colors and symbols is appropriate for a givenculture (for example, Horton 1993, 1994; Forslund 1996),we still do not know much about whether people fromdifferent cultures have similar attitudes about the use ofillustrations in instruction manuals. Specifically, we do notknow whether Japanese and American users have the sameattitudes about the number and type of illustrations thatmake a manual most usable. Several studies have pointedout that Japanese users appreciate the generous use ofgraphics in user manuals, and other studies have revealedthat American users perform tasks better when proceduresare accompanied by illustrations. Despite such findings,Japanese and American manuals differ in their use of illus-trations. Japanese manuals often include an illustrationwith each procedural step, but American manuals includefewer illustrations with procedural steps. Japanese manuals

also use cartoon graphics to convey concepts, yet fewAmerican manuals do so.

We do not know, however, whether these documentdesign tendencies reflect differences between audiences inthese cultures or simply the difference in assumptions ofdocument designers in these cultures. To appropriately local-ize manuals for each other’s culture, we need to understandwhether these two cultures differ in their views on theseissues. Therefore, we conducted a study to investigate Japa-nese and American users’ preference on first impression andperceived effectiveness for instructional formats that varied intheir use of illustrations that accompany instructional steps.We were concerned with people’s first impressions becauseimpressions can heavily influence their permanent percep-tions of a manual. Another part of our study included theassessment of Japanese and American users’ attitudes aboutthe use of cartoon graphics in manuals. After a brief review ofthe literature on the subject, we present our study.

Relevant literatureSeveral researchers have found that illustrations enhancethe comprehensibility of instructions for American readers.In an investigation of different instructional formats, Stoneand Glock (1981) had subjects assemble a loading cartwhile referring to one of three instructional formats. Theyfound that subjects who viewed the format with both illus-

Manuscript received 15 August 1998; revised 1 December 1998;accepted 20 January 1999.

Second Quarter 1999 • TechnicalCOMMUNICATION 167

Jan Spyridakis

Written by W, Fukuoka, Y. Kojima, and J.H. Spyridakis and reprinted with permission from TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION, the journal of the Society for Technical Communication, Arlington, VA, U.S.A.

trations and text made fewer assembly errors than subjectswho viewed the illustration-only or text-only formats. Byconveying 3-dimensional information, illustrations showeda significant advantage in preventing subjects from makingerrors in orienting parts. Booher (1975) found that illustra-tions were effective in facilitating the performance of op-erational tasks. In his study, subjects who used the formatswith text and illustrations performed tasks faster and moreaccurately than those who used text- or illustration-onlyformats. His results indicate that illustrations facilitate op-erational tasks—especially when the illustrations conveyspatial information about the location of the objects to bemanipulated.

Another study assessed the effectiveness of illustra-tions in a chemistry laboratory manual. In a test of a writtenmanual with and without the addition of pictures anddiagrams, Dechsri, Jones, and Heikkinen (1997) found thattext accompanied by graphics led to higher scores onachievement and psychomotor skill tests and more positiveattitudes toward laboratory activities. Devlin and Bernstein(1995) assessed the effectiveness of text and graphics witha “wayfinding” task, in which subjects were instructed tonavigate their way on a computer simulation of a collegecampus. Using one of seven types of instructional aids,which consisted of various combinations of text, photo-graphs, or maps, with or without landmarks noted in thetext or labeled on the graphic, subjects made the fewesterrors with text accompanied by photos or with the mapsthat had labeled landmarks. Further, subjects performedthe fastest with the text accompanied by photos. Regard-less of task, these studies have shown that instructional textaccompanied by illustrations positively affects comprehen-sion, performance, and task attitude.

Maitra and Goswami (1995) mentioned that Americanand Japanese readers differed in terms of expectations forthe roles of visuals. In their study, American subjects, whowere document designers and engineers, were confusedby illustrations and graphics in the annual report of aJapanese company. They found it difficult to comprehendthe relationship between the text and graphics. The Japa-nese president of the company explained that some of thegraphics sought to give readers a good impression and didnot necessarily relate to the text. But his intentions seemedcontrary to the expectations of the American subjects whoexpected the visuals to convey or clarify information and toact as reference tools. Whereas the company report wasprobably quite appropriate for its original Japanese read-ers, it fell short with the American readers.

In contrast with these studies with American subjects,few researchers have examined the effects of illustrationson task operation with Japanese subjects. A study con-ducted by Hiruma and Kaiho (1991) implies that illustra-tions that show the results of actions may enhance the

quality of user manuals. In their study, native Japanesecollege students and technical writers were asked to imag-ine that they were using a word processor and to evaluatenine instructional formats. In a comparison of formats thathad either written descriptions of the results of actions orno descriptions of the results of actions with formats thatalso included a screen shot of the results, both subjectgroups gave higher evaluations to the formats with theadded screen shots. Subjects also evaluated the formats onfour criteria for defining good user manuals. The studentsubjects regarded degree of confidence as the second mostimportant of four criteria (comprehensibility, degree ofconfidence, facilitation of manipulation, and ease of learn-ing, in order of importance). In contrast, the technicalwriters regarded degree of confidence as the least impor-tant criterion (comprehensibility, facilitation of manipula-tion, ease of learning, and degree of confidence, in order ofimportance). These results reveal that the students and thewriters gave different emphasis to their criteria for defininggood user manuals, thus suggesting a possible perceptualgap between users and designers.

The studies reviewed here clearly herald the positiveeffects of illustrations that accompany instructional text. Amer-ican document designers, however, tend to use fewer illus-trations to support verbal context than Japanese documentdesigners. This tendency is apparent in various kinds of doc-uments. Moriguchi (1998) points out that books in the Dum-mies series, some of the most popular computer primers inthe U.S., in general contain one illustration per two pages,whereas Japanese primers use two to four illustrations perpage. Beniger and Westney (1981) found that the Asahi shim-bun, a Japanese newspaper, contained 3.2 times as manyillustrations as the New York times. Our brief comparison oftwo sets of user manuals revealed the same trend. The Japa-nese version of the manual for the Sony DCR-TRV9 digitalcamcorder contains 50% more illustrations than the Japanese-designed English version. The Japanese-designed user man-ual for the Vivace 330 copier (made by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., inJapan) also contains more illustrations for the same functionsthan the American-designed user manual for a similar copi-er—the Xerox 5343 copier (made by the Xerox Corporation inthe U.S.).

Regardless of task, these studieshave shown that instructional text

accompanied by illustrationspositively affects comprehension,performance, and task attitude.

APPLIED RESEARCHIllustrations in User ManualsFukuoka, Kojima, and Spyridakis

168 TechnicalCOMMUNICATION • Second Quarter 1999

These design tendencies may be based on assumptionsthat Japanese readers have a stronger preference for illus-trations than American readers, in addition to the financialconstraints of using more illustrations. Kohl, Barclay,Pinelli, Keene, and Kennedy (1993) point out the Japaneseemphasis on visual communication. Lombard (1992) re-ported the reluctance of Japanese customers to read tech-nical manuals with few illustrations. The Japanese subjectsshe interviewed wanted more “graphics, white space, con-ceptual images conveying tasks,” and “icons in the booksto help the readers navigate” (p. 690). She also mentionedthat comic characters (that is, cartoons) were used in allkinds of Japanese reading material, including technicalmanuals, to help make difficult tasks seem like fun.

Some Japanese technical writers use cartoons to mo-tivate readers to read manuals. Aizu and Amemiya (1985)added cartoon-type illustrations to their Japanese com-puter manual that was localized from an American man-ual; they believed that the illustrations would create afriendly appearance. They reported that the localizedmanual received favorable responses from Japanesereaders. Such cartoon graphics are not commonly foundin American user manuals, although one study withAmerican college students found that subjects preferreda “flashier” textbook with cartoons to a traditional text-book with few illustrations (Ramsey 1983). Relying ontheir first impressions, the majority of subjects thoughtthe flashier format would help them learn more than thetraditional format, which they saw as being more schol-arly, more difficult, and more likely to be used in agraduate course by an older teacher. It is impossible todetermine whether these students liked the flashier text-book simply because it contained illustrations or be-cause the illustrations were cartoons.

In summary, previous studies have found that userscomprehend more information and perform better with

instructional materials that contain illustrations. How-ever, previous research still does not tell us what com-bination of text and illustrations users prefer on firstimpression or believe to be most effective with step-by-step instructions, nor does the research compare theviews of Japanese and American users on this topic.Previous research also has not compared Japanese andAmerican users’ attitudes about the use of cartoon graph-ics in manuals.

Therefore, using American and Japanese subjects, weconducted an experiment to investigate both the perceivedeffectiveness of and preference for instructional formatsthat vary in their use of illustrations in an instruction man-ual. For the study, American and Japanese subjects exam-ined four different page formats that provided instructionsabout setting an alarm function on a CD/radio cassetteplayer. They also stated their opinions about the use ofcartoon graphics in user manuals.

The literature review led us to the following threehypotheses:

r Japanese subjects will prefer the formats with illus-trations more than American subjects.

r Both American and Japanese subjects will believethat formats with some illustrations will help themcomplete tasks more easily and more quickly.

r Japanese subjects will have more positive attitudesabout cartoons than American subjects.

METHODDesignThis study was a two-way design that included two inde-pendent variables: nationality with two levels (Americanand Japanese) and format with four levels (full, half, over-view, and text-only). Four dependent variables were ana-lyzed:

1. The most preferred format2. The least preferred format3. Format effectiveness in terms of subjects’ beliefs

about the ease of following procedures and speed of fin-ishing tasks

4. Subjects’ attitudes about the use of cartoons in auser manual

The reasons for subjects’ format preferences were alsoexamined.

SubjectsThirteen American and 16 Japanese volunteers were se-cured in Seattle, WA, through advertisements on Universityof Washington bulletin boards and two different newslet-ters for international students, and by word-of-mouth. TheAmerican subject group included eight females and fivemales, and the Japanese subject group included eight fe-males and eight males. The mean ages of the American and

For the study, American andJapanese subjects examined four

different page formats thatprovided instructions about settingan alarm function on a CD/radiocassette player. They also statedtheir opinions about the use of

cartoon graphics in user manuals.

APPLIED RESEARCHIllustrations in User Manuals Fukuoka, Kojima, and Spyridakis


Japanese subjects were 27 and 26 years old, respectively.The majority of subjects were students at the University ofWashington, majoring in various fields (for example, com-puter science, library science, geography, law). To qualifyfor the subject pool, American subjects had to have grownup in the U.S. and Japanese subjects had to have grown upin Japan and had to have been living in the U.S. for lessthan five years.

MaterialsThe test packets contained five parts:

1. A cover page with demographic questions2. Four experimental manual formats3. A full-page illustration of a CD/radio cassette

player4. Two questionnaires to examine format prefer-

ence and effectiveness5. A page with two cartoon graphics from a Japa-

nese manual followed by a preference questionTest packets for the two groups were identical except thatthe text in the four experimental formats was written ineither English or Japanese for the related subject group. Allother parts of the test packet were in English.

Experimental formats The four experimental formatswere created by modifying an instructional procedure ex-cerpted from the English user manual for the Sony CFD-370CD/radio cassette player (1996). This procedure contained

six written steps about how to set the wake-up timer of theCD/radio cassette player. For the Japanese subjects, theinstructional content was translated to Japanese by one ofthe Japanese researchers and checked for accuracy byanother researcher and a professional Japanese translator.The Japanese and English instructions contained exactlythe same written information. Each format was printed ona sheet of 110 3 140 (21.5 3 35.5 cm) legal paper.

The experimental formats differed in the amount, lo-cation, and detail of the illustrations that accompanied thesix written, instructional steps:

r The full format used a single-step illustration besideeach of the six steps.

r The half format used a single-step illustration besidethree of six steps.

r The overview format had one generalized illustrationat the top of the page.

r The text-only format contained only the writtensteps.

All illustrations, adapted from the original manual, showedthe front of the CD radio/cassette player, but the labelingand detail level differed between the overview and the fulland half formats. The overview illustration used labels andflow lines to provide spatial information regarding thelocation of four controls on the front of the cassette player(Figure 1). The illustrations for the full and half formats alsoshowed the front of the cassette player, but they alsocontained a superimposed small blown-up diagram of acontrol on the front of the cassette player to highlight thecontrol needed for a given step. Labels and flow linesprovided spatial information about the location of the con-trol, and a superimposed hand provided operational infor-mation about using that control (that is, the action ofpressing the control), the latter of which might enable usersto understand what actions to perform without reading thetext. There was a total of three differently labeled illustra-tions (showing three different controls) in the half and fullformats (Figure 2). The full format contained six illustra-tions, using some of the illustrations more than once (oneillustration three times, another illustration twice, and an-other illustration once). Although we realized that the dif-

Figure 1. Overview format.

Figure 2. Used in full and half formats.



ferences between the detail level and labels on the over-view versus the full and half formats would make ourresults more difficult to interpret (that is, a nonfactorialdesign with regard to illustration type), we wanted to usethe two types of illustration formats that are common inuser manuals, yet limit the number of conditions in this firstexperiment. The appearance of the English and Japaneseinstructional texts ensured equivalent quality (for example,the character size and line spacing).

Throughout the test packets, the formats were indi-cated by letters (A, B, C, or D) instead of by format names(such as “full format”). The letters were randomly assignedto the formats in different test packets so that subjects couldnot consistently rely on alphabetic preference in answeringquestions about the formats.

Besides the four experimental formats, a larger view ofthe front of the CD/radio cassette player (landscape orien-tation on 8 1⁄20 3 110 [21.5 3 28 cm] paper) was providedfor use with the effectiveness questionnaire. The figure wasexcerpted from the original user manual and resized to halfthe size of the cassette player with the names of controlsadded.

Questionnaires Two questionnaires accompanied theexperimental formats: one examined format preferenceand the other examined format effectiveness. The prefer-ence questionnaire directed subjects to spread out the fourexperimental formats on a table so that they could look atthem simultaneously. It further instructed them not to readthe content of the pages but to rely on their first impres-sion. The questionnaire then asked subjects to select whichformats they would most and least prefer to use if a 30-pageuser manual consistently followed the formats. Subjectswere also asked to select the reasons for their preferencesfrom a list of options or to write down their own reasons.Finally, subjects were asked whether they would want touse a manual that followed their least preferred format.

The effectiveness questionnaire instructed subjects tolook at the full-page figure of the CD/radio cassette playerand imagine that they were reading a user manual to do atask with the cassette player shown in the figure. The

questionnaire then asked subjects to rate (on 5-pointscales) how easy it would be to follow the steps with thedifferent formats and how fast they would finish the stepswith the different formats. Although this method may notreplicate situations in which subjects actually perform atask with a real product in the fullest sense, a similarmethod has been used in several studies (for example,Hiruma and Kaiho 1991).

Cartoons The final page of the test packet showed twocartoons, one of an unhappy computer and one of a manflexing his biceps muscle (Figure 3), and then asked sub-jects how they would feel about a manual that used theseillustrations to emphasize written information in the man-ual. The cartoons were excerpted from a Toshiba computermanual where they were used to emphasize cautions suchas not turning off the computer before saving data andtaking an occasional break from the computer while work-ing for long periods to avoid eye strain and stiff muscles.

ProcedureTest packets were randomly handed out to subjects toensure the random distribution of the different, alphabeti-cally labeled test formats. Some subjects answered the testpackets at a place where the researchers were present, andothers answered them at home and then returned thepackets. The testing site differences were not deemed to besignificant because the test packets were designed to beused by subjects on their own. All subjects followed writtentest instructions, proceeded through the test packet at theirown pace, and were allowed to ask questions in person, byphone, or by e-mail, although none did. The data wasanalyzed using Statview 4.5 and SPSS 6.1.1.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONAfter a brief discussion of the demographic results, theresults are discussed in the following three subsections:format preferences, format effectiveness, and attitudes to-ward cartoons. With statistical tests, only results with a pvalue # .05 are considered significant. In other words, astatistical test must show that there is at least a 95% prob-ability that the results are due to the experimental condi-tions, and only a 5% probability or less that the results aredue to chance.

The results of the demographic questions confirmedthat the two subjects groups did not differ in gender or age.A Chi-square test was used to assess the gender variable,and a t test was used to assess the age variable; the testswere nonsignificant. As stated earlier, there were eightfemales and five males in the American subject group andeight females and eight males in the Japanese subjectgroup. The mean ages of American and Japanese subjectswere 27 and 26 years old, respectively. Although Japanese

Figure 3. Cartoon graphics.



subjects qualified to participate if they had been living inthe U.S. for less than 5 years, as it turned out, the majorityof Japanese subjects (81%) had been living in the U.S. forless than 1.5 years.

Format preferencesContrary to the hypotheses that expected differences be-tween the nationality groups, there were no clear differ-ences between Japanese and American subjects regardingpreference for formats that varied in the use of illustrations.But the results of subjects’ views about format preferenceare noteworthy.

Regarding the most preferred format, because a Chi-square test revealed no significant difference between thetwo nationality groups on this variable, the two groups’ratings were collapsed for further analysis. A Chi-squaretest revealed a significant difference across the four for-mats, x2(3) 5 10.31, p 5 .0161. As shown in the Total rowin Table 1, all subjects preferred to use a format withillustrations (the full, half, or overview format) and no onepreferred to use the text-only format.

Even though the two subject groups did not signifi-cantly differ in terms of their most preferred format, it isinteresting to note that a preponderance of Americansubjects (46.2%) preferred the overview format, whereasa preponderance of Japanese subjects (43.8%) preferredthe full format. One issue to consider is that all the

illustrations in the full format looked identical at a quickglance, and subjects had been told to judge their pref-erence on first impression. One American subject, whopointed out the similarity of the illustrations, did notselect the full format as preferred because the formatgave him the impression of redundancy. If the full formathad used illustrations that show six distinctly differentviews, perhaps more American subjects would have pre-ferred it.

As for the reasons for their choices, most subjects inboth groups selected “the format looks more organized,”“the procedure steps look easier,” or “I would feel moreconfident with this format.” There was no clear differencebetween the reasons that each group selected.

Regarding the least preferred format, because a Chi-square test revealed no significant difference between thetwo nationality groups on this variable, the two groups’ratings were collapsed for further analysis. A Chi-squaretest revealed a significant difference across the four for-mats, x2(3) 5 52.24, p , .0000. As shown in the Total rowin Table 2, the majority of subjects least preferred to use thetext-only format.

As for the reasons for their choices, most Americansubjects selected “the format looks less friendly” and “Iwould feel less confident with this format.” Moreover, threeAmerican subjects explicitly stated that they preferred tosee illustrations. On the other hand, most Japanese subjects

TABLE 2: LEAST PREFERRED FORMATS

Nationality

Formats

Full Half Overview Text-only

American (n 5 13) 7.7% (n 5 1) 15.4% (n 5 2) 0% (n 5 0) 76.9% (n 5 10)

Japanese (n 5 16) 12.5% (n 5 2) 0% (n 5 0) 0% (n 5 0) 87.5% (n 5 14)

Total (n 5 29) 10.3% (n 5 3) 6.9% (n 5 2) 0% (n 5 0) 82.8% (n 5 24)

TABLE 1: MOST PREFERRED FORMATS

Nationality

Formats

Full Half Overview Text-only

American (n 5 13) 30.8% (n 5 4) 23.0% (n 5 3) 46.2% (n 5 6) 0% (n 5 0)

Japanese (n 5 16) 43.8% (n 5 7) 31.2% (n 5 5) 25.0% (n 5 4) 0% (n 5 0)

Total (n 5 29) 37.9% (n 5 11) 27.6% (n 5 8) 34.5% (n 5 10) 0% (n 5 0)



selected “the procedure steps look more difficult” as well asthe reasons selected by American subjects. This differenceimplies that Japanese readers might be more intimidated bytexts without illustrations.

Further, a Chi-square test found no difference betweenthe groups on their responses to whether they would wantto use a manual that used their least preferred format. Mostsubjects stated that they would not mind using a manualwith their least preferred format but that they would notlike using it. However, four subjects (two Japanese and twoAmericans) stated that they would never want to use amanual with such a format. It is noteworthy that these foursubjects selected the text-only format as their least pre-ferred format.

The preference results overall show that both Ameri-can and Japanese subjects preferred to use a format withillustrations and equally disliked a format without illustra-tions, at least when judged by subjects’ first impressions ofa manual. These results imply that the assumption thatJapanese readers like illustrations more than Americanreaders is incorrect when it comes to the design of usermanuals.

Format effectivenessAs hypothesized, both American and Japanese subjectsbelieved that the formats with both texts and illustrationswould help them follow procedures more easily. A repeat-ed-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) (nationality 3format) on the perceived ease of following proceduresrevealed a significant effect for formats, F (3, 27) 5 19.28,p , .0001, and no significant effect for nationality or any

interaction. Figure 4 contains a bar graph of the results ofsubjects’ ratings on the four formats. On the questionnairescale, 1 was hardest, 2 was harder, 3 was normal, 4 waseasier, and 5 was easiest.

Given that the ANOVA revealed a significant differencefor formats, the next question is which formats significantlydiffered from each other. We answered this question byusing a statistical method appropriate for a within-subjectsdesign—that is, a design in which subjects rate more than

Figure 4. Ratings on perceived ease of following steps.

TABLE 3: MEAN DIFFERENCESON EASE RATINGS

Format Comparison Mean Difference

Full—half .31

Full—overview .83*

Full—text-only 1.86*

Half—overview .52

Half—text-only 1.55*

Overview—text-only 1.03*

(Critical difference 5 .83)

r * p # .05.



one format (in this case all formats). This method revealshow much the means need to differ mathematically torepresent a significant difference (Loftus and Masson 1994).The critical difference was .83 (that is, the means for theformat ratings needed to differ by at least .83 to be signif-icant). The full, half, and overview formats were ratedsignificantly higher than the text-only format, and the fullformat was also rated significantly higher than the over-view format (Table 3).

Clearly, subjects thought that any format with illustra-tions would make the instructions easier to follow than aformat with text alone. But they also thought that instruc-tions with an illustration beside each step would be easierto follow than a format with one illustration at the top ofthe page. It is difficult to be certain whether their prefer-ence for the full format resulted from the help provided byan illustration accompanying each step or the help pro-vided by the highlighted control in the illustration. Wesuspect that the answer leans more toward the use of thestep-by-step illustrations. If the higher ratings for the fullformat (M 5 4.00) versus the overview format (M 5 3.17)were due solely to difference in illustrations between thetwo formats, then it is likely that the half format would alsohave significantly differed from the overview format in thatthe half and full formats used the same type of illustrations.

As we had hypothesized, formats with both text andillustrations positively affected subjects’ ratings of task speed.A repeated-measures ANOVA (nationality 3 format) on theperceived speed of following procedures revealed a signifi-cant effect for formats, F (3, 27) 5 11.27, p , .0001, and nosignificant effect for nationality or any interaction. Figure 5shows a bar graph of the results of subjects’ ratings on the fourformats. On the questionnaire scale, 1 was slowest, 2 wasslower, 3 was normal, 4 was faster, and 5 was fastest.

To evaluate which formats significantly differed fromeach other, we again calculated how much the meansneeded to differ mathematically to be considered a signif-icant difference. The critical difference for the speed ratingswas .99. The full and half formats were both rated signifi-cantly higher than the text-only format; subjects believed

Figure 5. Ratings on perceived speed of following steps.

TABLE 4: MEAN DIFFERENCES(ABSOLUTES) ON SPEED RATINGS

Format Comparison Mean Difference

Full—half u.10u

Full—overview .52

Full—text-only 1.38*

Half—overview .62

Half—text-only 1.48*

Overview—text-only .86

(Critical difference 5 .99)

r * p # .05.



that the formats with the step-by-step illustrations wouldhelp them complete the task faster (Table 4). Interestingly,the overview format did not significantly differ from thetext-only format on the speed ratings as it had with the easeratings.

At this point, it is interesting to think about the resultsfor the four dependent measures all together. For the typeof hands-on task assessed in this experiment, subjects mostpreferred formats with illustrations and least preferred atext-only format. They believed that any format with illus-trations would make instructions easier to follow than textalone; they also believed that an instructional format withstep-by-step illustrations would be easier to follow than aformat with one overview illustration at the top of the page.Further, they believed that a format with step-by-step illus-trations would help them complete a task more quickly.

This hierarchy of “the more illustrations the better” isquite logical when one thinks about how users wouldinteract with the different formats. If a format has an illus-tration for each step (that is, our full format), that illustra-tion will most likely highlight details relating to the step.Users can easily rely on this illustration for help in under-standing the written instructions—or perhaps in ignoringthe written instructions all together. If a format has anillustration for some steps (such as our half format), userscan rely on the illustrations for some steps and, in doing so,reduce their reliance on the written instructions to somedegree. If a format has one illustration at the top of thepage that attempts to make itself useful for all steps (suchas our overview format), then by its very nature the illus-tration will probably offer less instructional informationthan step-by-step illustrations do. Users will also have tocontinually shift their gaze from the text up to the illustra-tion, back again, and then to the mechanism. The tightvisual connection of text and graphics that occurs with thestep-by-step illustrations is lost. Finally, if a format containsno illustrations (such as our text-only format), users willhave to read all steps in detail, search for the appropriatecontrols on the machine, and then perhaps reread the textto remember what to do with the control.

Attitudes toward cartoonsContrary to our hypothesis, both American and Japanesesubjects had similar attitudes toward the cartoon graphics: aChi-square test found no difference between the two groups.We, therefore, combined the data from both groups for an-other Chi-square analysis of the three response categories.This Chi-square revealed a significant difference, x2(2) 5 6.28,p 5 .0434. The majority of subjects (52%) stated that theywould not care whether such cartoons were used in a manualto emphasize the contents of texts, 34% would like to see suchcartoons, and only 14% would dislike such cartoons. Appar-ently cartoon graphics, which are so commonly used in Jap-anese manuals, would be equally acceptable in English man-uals for American users.

CONCLUSIONExisting research suggests that illustrations are effectiveadjuncts to text in instructional manuals. But Americanmanuals typically contain fewer illustrations than Japa-nese manuals. These document design practices may bebased on different assumptions about the views thatJapanese and American users have toward illustrations inmanuals. Our study revealed no significant differencesbetween American and Japanese subjects in terms oftheir preferences for and perceived effectiveness of il-lustrations in user manuals.

American and Japanese subjects found the formats thatcontained both text and illustrations more preferable andbelieved they would be more effective in terms of ease offollowing instructions. They did believe, however, thatillustrations accompanying each instructional step wouldmake instructions easier to follow than a format with asingle illustration at the top. Similarly, they believed thatformats with step-by-step illustrations would facilitate taskspeed more than a text-only format. These results suggestthat preference and perception of effectiveness are notnecessarily one and the same. Although users may, on firstimpression, prefer a manual with any amount of illustra-tions relevant to the tasks to be performed over a manualwithout illustrations, their perception of ease of followinginstructions and speed of completing tasks is somewhatmore discriminating. Document designers should realizethat a user’s first impression of a document may not nec-essarily reveal how effective a user would find a document.

These results provide some implications for the localiza-tion of user manuals. Although document designers mayinclude overview illustrations in manuals to help orient usersto a device or portion of a device, the designer should alsoprovide step-by-step illustrations as often as possible besideindividual instructions. Further, when preparing English man-uals, Japanese document designers need not believe in themyth that Americans prefer fewer visuals than Japanese. Inother words, they need not reduce the number of illustrations

American and Japanese subjectsfound the formats that containedboth text and illustrations more

preferable and believed they wouldbe more effective in terms of ease

of following instructions.



on the assumption that American readers will be annoyed bythe inclusion of many illustrations. Second, American docu-ment designers should consider using more illustrations inmanuals to help illustrate instructional steps.

The results of subjects’ attitudes toward the use of cartoongraphics in manuals also have implications for documentdesigners. Because regardless of nationality, half of the sub-jects would not mind such graphics and one-third of thesubjects would like such graphics, Japanese document de-signers should spend less time worrying about deleting car-toon graphics from manuals localized for American users.And perhaps designers of English manuals should considerusing cartoon graphics to emphasize content.

As an initial investigation, this study has providedhelpful information for document designers, but morework is needed. Another study should separate the vari-ables of the number of illustrations from the amount andtype of information shown and labeled. Further, a futurestudy should reinforce our results by using Japanesesubjects who have been living in Japan and have littleexperience abroad. Because this study used college stu-dents as subjects, it would be interesting to examine theviews of other audiences in terms of age, gender, edu-cation, occupation, and native country. It would be ex-tremely interesting to examine subjects’ perceptions ofthe formats used in this study if these formats were partof much longer manuals (for example, more than 100pages). Finally, it would be informative to examine for-mat preference and effectiveness with subjects actuallyconducting the assigned tasks. TC

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