User Documentation and Online Help CS4HC3 / SE4HC3/ SE6DO3 Fall 2011 Instructor: Kevin Browne brownek@mcmaster.ca Slide content is based heavily on Chapter 12 of the textbook: Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction / 5 th 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 highexperience 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
References Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction / 5 th 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)
References Smart, 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..