User Documentation and Online Help

CS4HC3 / SE4HC3/ SE6DO3Fall 2011

Instructor: Kevin Brownebrownek@mcmaster.ca

Slide content is based heavily on Chapter 12 of the textbook: Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer

Interaction / 5th edition, by Ben Schneiderman & Catherine Plaisant

User Documentation and Online Help

● Online help, manuals, documentation, quick start guides are often expected

● Ubiquitous displays (smartphones, etc.) leads us to ubiquitous online help?

● User communities with “grassroots” support● Other forms of instruction: classroom (possibly

online), personal training and assistance, telephone consultation, etc.

Online Versus Paper Documentation

● Why online documentation?● Physical advantages

– Info is always available when a computer is available– Less physical space is required– Info can be updated quickly, at low cost

● Navigation features– Interface can allow users to quickly find info (table of

contents, et.)– Search is far improved than paper– Hyperlinks to to link topics

Online Versus Paper Documentation

● Why online documentation?● Interactive services

– Documentation can be bookmarked– Animations, graphics to explain things– Online communities can be enabled (e.g. Wiki)– Universal accessibility through screen readers, etc.

● Economic advantages– Cheaper to duplicate\distribute

Online Versus Paper Documentation

● Disadvantages of online help?● Paper may be more readable● Paper may be able to display more information● Paper has a “UI” that most people understand● Paper may not take away mental resources to

navigate an interface to find help● Online help may force user to split display space

between online help and their work● Devices with small screens (e.g. Smartphones) may

not have enough space to display help

Reading from Paper Versus from Displays

● Paper has been around for hundreds of years● Evolved, designed to be as readable as possible

● Disadvantages of reading from a display?● Poor fonts● Low contrast between characters\background● Glare, flicker, curved display surface● Small displays (too much page turning)● Reading distance

– Fixed display vs. Movable paper

Reading from Paper Versus from Displays

● Disadvantages of reading from a display? (cont)● Layout and formatting issues● Reduced hand and body motion

– Especially if display is fixed● Anxiety of navigating a display

● Interest in reading from displays has only increased ● Online libraries, newspapers, journals● Studies being done to improve displays

– e.g. Study showing users read web pages in an F pattern

Shaping the Content of the Documentation

● In the past, what was typical...● Documentation was done by low-level team

member, an after thought● Manuals would be thorough, technical, descriptive● Manuals wouldn't be tested, revised before

● Now more likely...● Manuals focused on task-completion, info-gathering● Manuals that have been tested, revised

Shaping the Content of the Documentation

● Reality:● New users typically don't read manual sequentially

from cover to cover● They are more likely to “just try to make it work”,

based on:– Experience with previous interfaces– Real-world experience– Guesswork

● Result: minimal manuals ● Encourage active involvement with software soon in

the process, guided exploration of tool, support error recognition\recovery

Shaping the Content of the Documentation

● User manual guidelines (Carroll, 1998)● Choose an action-oriented approach

– Have users act early, support exploration, show examples

● Let user's tasks guide organization– Instructional activities should e based off of real tasks,

present task concepts before interface● Support error recognition and recovery

– Prevent mistakes, provide error information to diagnose and correct

● Support reading to do, study and locate– Be concise, toc\index\glossary, keep writing simple

Shaping the Content of the Documentation

● User-desired qualities of documentation:● Appropriate level of technical detail● Many examples● Accuracy● Well-organized● Easy-to-navigate

Shaping the Content of the Documentation

● Documentation designer concerns● Give credit to documentation authors?● Target audience?● Resources to complete task?● Documentation used once, or many times?● Abilities of the users? (technical, reading)

Shaping the Content of the Documentation

● Some good documentation practices:● Include precise statements of instructional

objectives (Mager, 1997)– “collection of words and/or pictures and diagrams to let

others know what you intend your students to achieve”● Proper sequence of content (concepts may build

upon one another)● Divide info into topics/subtopics (Redish, 2007)

Accessing the Documentation

● Online documentation● Before: CD-ROMs containing copy of paper

documentation● Now: Referred to software maker's website● Can take advantage of online features:

– Text highlighting– Search– Sound, animation– Bookmarking– Automatic history keeping

Accessing the Documentation

● Online help● Beginners: tutorials, intermittent knowledgeable

users: online help, experts: online documentation● Rather than searching through entire online

documentation, provide help more directly tied to solutions to user problems– e.g. Microsoft's Answer Wizard

Accessing the Documentation

● Online help● User complaints about online help (Smart et al.,

2001)– Trouble navigating the help menu– Finding the terminology too technical– Difficulty with search strategies– Incomplete info provided– Too many choices or paths– Difficulty with having multiple windows open– Too much information

Accessing the Documentation

● Context-sensitive help● User-controlled, interactive object help

– Monitor user cursor● Provide help based on cursor location

– Provide a help key or button for interface objects– Pop-up box can provide help info– Section of screen can be committed to displaying help

info● System-initiated help

– Keep track of user interactions, data about the users, use data to suggest help

Accessing the Documentation

● Context-sensitive help● System-initiated help

– Problem: users may create errors or have misconceptions that you haven't programatically accounted for

– Intelligent help systems have in general failed● e.g. Microsoft Office Assistant “Clippit”

● Hybrid approaches– Blend of user initiated and intelligent help– e.g. Browsing suggestions

Accessing the Documentation

● Special populations● International and cross-cultural issues

– More than language translation: cultural differences● Older adult users

– May have to develop separate page for seniors● e.g. National Institute of Health

● Users with disabilities– Provide different input/output options

Online Tutorials and Animated Demonstrations

● Computer training modules, animated demonstration, video training, etc.

● Online tutorials● Strength: Users may carry out practice tasks

– Practice tasks followed by free exploration resulted in significant performance improvements with high-experience subjects (Wiedenbeck and Zila, 1997)

● Start-up tips– Every time a new feature is shown, display help\tutorial

options– But make sure to give user option to silence tips

Online Tutorials and Animated Demonstrations

● Animated demonstrations and multimedia● Explain system features via animations● Allow users access to standard playback features● Users seem to prefer recorded voice explanations● Animated demos more effective at explaining tool

use then static explanations (Baecker et al., 1991)● A week after viewing animations, positive effects

were reversed (Palmiter and Elkerton, 1991)● Subjective satisfaction with animated demos is high

(Payne, et al., 1992)

Online Communities for User Assistance

● E-mail, chat, instant messaging, wiki, discussion groups, forums, newsletters for Q&A● e.g. Google Groups● Communal broadcast of help = low cost● Users help other users

– Satisfaction from helping others– Demonstrate what they are capable of doing themselves– e.g. Microsoft MVP

● Common questions can be put into FAQ● Social aspect, human interaction key

– Follow up questions, sensitivity, etc.

The Development Process

● Development process guidelines:● Seek professional writers and copywriters● Prepare user documentation early (before

implementation)● Set up guidelines documents and coordinate and

integrate across all involved departments● Review drafts thoroughly● Field-test early editions● Provide a feedback mechanism for readers● Revise to reflect changes regularly

ReferencesDesigning the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction / 5th edition, by Ben Schneiderman & Catherine Plaisant (2010)

Baecker, Ronald, Small, Ian, and Mander, Richard. Brining icons to life, Proc. CHI'91 Conference: Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM Press, New York (1991), 1-6.

Caroll, J.M., Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel, MIT Press, Cambridge MA (1998).

Mager, Robert F., Preparing Instructional Objectives: A Critical Tool in the Development of Effective Instruction, C enter for Effective Performance, Atlanta, GA, (1997)

Palmiter, Susan and Elkerton, Jay, An evaluation of animated demonstrations for learning computer-based tasks, Proc. CHI'91 Conference: Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM Press, New York (1991), 257-263.

Payne, S.J., Chesworth, K., and Hill, E., Animated demonstrations for exploratory learning, Interacting with Computers 4 (1992), 3-22.

Redish, Janice (Ginny), Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, CA (2007)

ReferencesSmart, Karl L., Whiting, Matthew, and DeTienne, Kristen Bell, Assessing the need for printed and online documentation: A study of customer preference and use, Journal of Business Communication 38, 3, (2001), 285-314..

Wiedenbeck, S. And Zila, P.L., Hands-on practice in learning to use software: A comparison of exercise, exploration, and combined formats, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 4, 2 (June 1997), 169-196.

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