Publications
Lexmark International Service Manuals
Role: Technical Illustrator, Art Director
Tools: CorelDraw, I-DEAS, TeamCenter, NX
Stakeholder: Lexmark International Inc.
Year: 2007 - 2012
Overview/Process: After being paired with a service engineer (SME) of the project, I participated in the disassembling and assembling of laser printers one screw at a time to understand and record the correct sequence of the processes visually using a camera. The service engineers used those photos as discussion points to talk and negotiate with the development team about what parts should be included in or excluded from the BOM of the service parts and whether the development team must change their 3D drawings before manufacturing the printers due to serviceability issues. When I joined the group, hand-sketched 2D vector illustrations were the primary medium used for service manuals.
Challenges: Laser printers are expensive and bulky, and a service engineer cannot always access all levels of prototype machines.
Results: When printers/parts were unavailable, I used 3D designs from I-DEAS/TeamCenter to convert them into 2D renderings in IsoDraw or NX as visual aids. Depending on how quickly the service manuals needed to be published, I incorporated photographs and hand-sketched 2D vector illustrations when physical printers/parts were available.
Takeaways: Service engineers were happy with the options they gained by incorporating different mediums in the service manuals. Since I juggled multiple projects of four to five laser printers in the same development timeframe, introducing new ideas offered more flexibility to produce quality work within tight deadlines.
Lexmark International User's Manual and Setup Guide
Role: Visual Designer, Instructional Designer, Technical Writer, UX Designer, Project Manager
Tools: Adobe FrameMaker
Stakeholder: Lexmark International Inc.
Year: 2004 - 2007
Overview: Existing layout of the user manuals and setup guides was due for a significant overhaul.
Challenges: Human factor testing and Japan Manual Contest revealed that multimedia and graphics were more encouraged for instruction for the Japanese market; the existing layout needed more visual interest.
Results: I redesigned the layout of the manual and the guide so that the content is visually engaging and informative.
Lexmark International Setup Sheets
Role: Visual Designer, Instructional Designer, Technical Writer, UX Designer
Tools: Adobe FrameMaker
Stakeholder: Lexmark International Inc.
Year: 2004 - 2007
Overview: The first project I worked on joining Lexmark was a Setup Sheet. Initially, the layout was black and white and lacked visual organization.
Challenges: After monitoring the usability testing, I discovered users toss manuals and setup sheets away after opening the box and don't even read them.
Results: I incorporated colors without adding printing costs to make the illustration pop and visually engaging while trying to declutter the text information as much as possible to minimize the information overload.
Takeaway: It was an eye-opening experience witnessing users tossing the manuals and setup sheets aside, trying to figure out how to set up the machine without instructions. This P4300 Setup Sheet was my first attempt to tackle the challenges. Later, I was asked to join a task force to devise an ultimate solution to reach the unreachable audience using multimedia.