DEC STD 041-0

This document, DEC STD 041-0 Customer Installability: Product Requirements, outlines the policies and minimum requirements for designing and developing products that can be easily installed by customers worldwide.

Key aspects include:

1. Definition of Customer-Installable: A product is customer-installable if the general public (without special skills or training) can receive, unpack, install hardware and software components, and verify its operation without needing Digital's intervention.
2. Applicability: The standard applies globally to all customer-installable systems, hardware, and software products (including new systems, components, upgrades, and certain maintenance activities) throughout their entire life cycle. It also serves as a guideline for non-customer-installable products to improve ease of installation.
3. Responsibilities: Defines roles for Product Management (who has final responsibility), Engineering, Human Factors, Documentation, Manufacturing, and Customer Services Systems Engineering (CSSE) in ensuring product installability.
4. Life Cycle Integration: Emphasizes integrating customer installability considerations throughout the product development phases (from initial requirements to post-release evaluation).
5. System Requirements: Stresses a holistic "systems approach" where all interacting components (hardware, software, packaging, documentation) are integrated, consistent naming is used, presale communications are clear, and verification procedures are smooth.
6. Hardware Requirements: Detailed requirements for:
   • Presale Communication: Informing customers about prerequisites, time, and support.
   • Packing, Shipping, Delivery: Ensuring components arrive together, are manageable in size/weight, and have clear content listings.
   • Unpacking: Must be safe and straightforward, with pictorial instructions for complex or heavy items.
   • Installation: Focuses on simplicity, minimal internal access, clear labeling, captive screws, manageable lifting weights, minimal tools, and intuitive controls. Safety is paramount.
   • Verification & Troubleshooting: Easy-to-perform procedures with clear status outputs and guidance for obtaining assistance.
7. Software Requirements: Detailed requirements for:
   • Presale Communication: Similar to hardware, setting customer expectations.
   • Packing, Shipping, Delivery: Ensuring software media and documentation arrive together and are logically grouped.
   • Installation: Minimizing customer interaction, enabling pre-installation where possible, providing step-by-step procedures, advising on backups, and estimating time.
   • Installation Dialog: Ensuring all required input is gathered upfront, kept minimal, presented clearly, and allows for corrections.
   • Capabilities: Includes base system installation, optional product installation, and the ability to stop/resume installations.
   • License Management, Configuration & System Management, Upgrade, Verification: Specifies easy, integrated, secure, and user-friendly processes for these functions, including data preservation during upgrades and thorough verification steps.
8. Documentation Requirements: All installation-related information (manuals, on-screen messages, checklists) must be coordinated, consistent, clear, action-oriented, and support the entire installation process from arrival to verification, including site preparation.
9. Customer-Installability Testing: Crucially, the standard emphasizes that meeting requirements alone doesn't guarantee installability. Product teams must set measurable installability goals and conduct realistic "Day One" testing with unbiased participants to iteratively improve and validate the product's ease of installation.