Operating procedure design using narrative

The advantage to using a narrative style is that it is relatively easy to maintain. There are no graphics to redraw, and changes to the procedures seldom require much redesign.

The disadvantage is that the overall operation being performed is not always obvious. In addition, if the users of the procedure suspect that they have taken a wrong branch in the procedure, it is difficult to backtrack through the steps.

There are many ways to document procedures using a narrative style, rather than graphics. For example, you could use a numbered list, where the reader starts at number 1, compares the situation with the information in number 1, then continues to number 2 or maybe jumps to number 15 depending on the decision made in number 1. This technique is essentially a narrative flowchart. As another example, you could write scenarios, wherein the reader picks a scenario that matches their situation, and follows all the steps in the scenario.