OrangeKid

Our new Lexus GX-460 came with the following documentation:
-Owner's Manual - 844 pages
-Owner's Manual Quick Guide - 94 pages
-Navigation System Owner's Manual - 425 pages
-On-board Communications Tools - 41 pages
-Warranty and Services Guide - 76 pages
-Lemon Law Guide - 53 pages

The documentation totals 1533 pages of instruction. Why should anyone have to read all that documentation in order to understand and drive their Lexus? The guides form a pile 3" thick and fill the glove compartment. Lexus needs to reassess their human engineering approach to the design and operation of their automobiles. For example, Lexus should take a look at how Apple manages to take very complex technology and make it easy to use without requiring the user to read through voluminous documentation.

And that is not all. There are additional instruction sheets for various items that come with the vehicle. It is very difficult to find a specific piece of instruction because of the large volume of the documentation. Its like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Koz

I just bought a thermostat for my home, there was 224 pages of manuals!

Koz

OrangeKid

Nest thermostat follows Apple design principles: its very sophisticated, easy to use, and comes with a simple user manual.

Koz

The Nest could not do the job for me. The Nest is only good for a simple system with one thermostat. I got the Honeywell Prestige 2.0 which is way more advanced then the Nest (and of course cost much more).

Koz

andreys

I had Nest before. It's nothing more than a fancy thermostat that has a mind of its own. Ended up going with Ecobee and I'm very glad I did

I have no problems with Lexus documentation. It might not be needed at first, but it does come in handy when you need to check on something specific few years down the road.

Koz

The biggest problem with the nest is uses/learns your inputs and a motion sensor to write the program/schedule.

I also have found the Lexus manuals to be very well written and easy to use.

Koz

OrangeKid

The Nest 2nd Generation thermostat handles multiple Nests as well as complex situations. But lets keep this thread on topic.

OrangeKid

One way the Lexus manuals could be simplified and shortened is to print a custom manual for each Lexus.
With modern computerized publishing techniques it seems to me that should be possible. I would guess the manuals would be more than 50% shorter if they were customized to the features of each individual vehicle.

Custom manuals would also be easier to use as one would not have to wade through pages of features that are not present on one's Lexus.

pbm317

I don't think this has anything to do with Human Factors Engineering. Some is likely liability/cover your *** syndrome that is huge in America now. Did you actually have to read any of that to use your vehicle? Likely not. Some would be glad that they care enough and spend enough to provide them to you at all. Some car companies no longer include them with the vehicle, but offer it to an owner online as a pdf. Not as handy if you're on the side of the road and need to figure out how to get your spare tire, etc. Which, with a Lexus and roadside assistance generally wouldn't even come up at all.

OrangeKid

I did have to look up some things. For example I had to look up how to reset the odometer. I also had to look up how to fold the mirrors.

I actually thumbed through the Quick Guide. Much of he information in there is irrelevant. For example three kinds of light stalks and two kinds of wiper stalks described.

Yes, I agree much information that is included is to protect Lexus from possible litigation.

tazdevl

Nest 2.0 was launched not too long ago.

Human factor deals with the interface. Manual is just technical documentation. Part of the reason why the documentation is so comprehensive is due to the regulatory requirements and as others have said, mitigate litigation risk.