Optimize for anxiety and rush Someone might be reading a how-to guide, and be in a hurry to execute those steps. Respect their time. The document should clearly point out, and highlight through formatting (use emojis like ✅ or ❌); what should and should not be done. Point out known common issues. Don't leave out trivial details. Assume your how-to guide to be a run-book or field manual. Avoid description, focus on narration. A bullet-point ordered list is better, than a few paragraphs, in most cases. If you need to give detailed reasoning for a step, provide it in a way that if needed, user can easily skip that and move to next step.