Sometimes I like blowing up the manual into large print using a Xerox machine with magnification. That gives me room to scribble marginal notes.
Or, if it's an online manual, I copy the text to some document format that I can edit.
Then I highlight and underline, or replace the phrases that make no sense to me with phrases that I THINK mean about the same thing.
User manuals are always written by the engineer that knows the most, for the new user who knows the least. I think that's too bad.
They should be written by a NEW USER who JUST NOW figured out how to do it right. Then that NEW USER can write in terms that NEW USERS would understand.
My school had a policy that some teaching assistants for introductory courses should NOT be grad students who are currently taking highly advanced courses for PhD candidates.
Some of the teaching assistants for intro courses were always chosen from among the freshmen who came close to failing the course, but figured it out in time to pass.
THEY are the only ones who understand how to explain the subject to someone who does not ALREADY understand it fully.
