We particularly liked certain styles of writing in the the user manual; the best among them is the point form structure of instructions. These provide a great step-by-step tutorial like description. In addition, the examples are invaluable in illustrating the use of the different functions. The screen shots gave us a better understanding of the operations and added in the illustration of the operations supported by the database. They looked professonal and easy enough to use which was always a concern since many members of our staff are novice computer users.
However, we believe that there are some small improvements that can be made to increase the usability of the manual. Firstly, the manual contained no introduction or discussion of the system as a whole. Also, an overview of each function would have been nice. Maybe a short summary of its uses and short comings; keep in mind, we are generally new to computers. Secondly, some of the screen shots didn't seem to corelate with the functions being described. We are guessing that it would been unreasonable to expect a shot of every screen included with the program, but it was very hard to follow in some instances.
In general, the user manual impressed upon us that the project is going to meet our requirements and that is very pleasing. We have confidence that the system will meet our needs and make daily book transactions simpler.