Tutorial and Usability test plan: “Using Win Zip 8.1 SR-1”

This software tutorial is to be used by first-time users of Win Zip 8.1 SR-1, a file compressing tool. It can also be used by anyone who has had some experience with Win Zip and wants to sharpen his or her skills.

To help me accomplish the task of writing the tutorial I wrote a document plan outlining what the tutorial would contain and how this information would be laid out. Since I had never used Win Zip before, I had to learn it in order to write the tutorial. To do this, I read the help section and later used it as a guide as I performed simple tasks using the software’s shortcut keys and Wizard. I created archives, zipped and unzipped files. Because I was learning at every stage, I was able to include in the tutorial things that I thought first time users would want to know.

After a few practice runs, I was ready to start writing my tutorial and designing the exercises for the modules. I took screen shots of what I was doing and incorporated the relevant shots in the tutorial.