Applying Cognitive Science to User Assistance

RAY GALLONC U L T U R E C O M

Presentation © 2013 Ray Gallon all rights reserved

Applying Cognitive Science to User Assistance

Member, Board of Directors


Who Is This Guy?Ray Gallon - The Humanist Nerd

Owner/Consultant, Culturecom – specialist in usability, content strategy, and user assistance for software

Research collaborator and principal, The Transformation Society, a new research and training institute in Barcelona, Spain

■ 20+ years in technical communication with major companies such as G.E. Healthcare, Alcatel, IBM, etc.

■ Member, board of directors, Society for Technical Communication (STC)

■ Past president, STC France

■ Award-‐winning radio producer and journalist – CBC, NPR, France Culture, etc. and former programme manager, WNYC-‐FM, New York Public Radio

RAY GALLONCULTURECOM


The only thing we know about the futureis that it will be different Peter Drucker

Our job is to help people use our products well and wisely, which means they learn to adapt, and cope with changes in technology and society.

“Learners” focuses on the human

development and appropriating new

knowledge and skill, which I think is

really more the essence of!

what’s going on. !

– John Carroll


Procedures Aren’t Enough

Two common ideas about minimalism: Don’t waste user’s time with unnecessary detail, especially concepts Save money in production and localization with reduced content

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

DO THIS

DON’T DO THAT

NOTE:WARNING!

Is memorizing a procedure by rote

necessary for competency?If concepts ar

e important, how

do we include the

m without

“wasting users’

time?”How do I know if I need to do this?


Not Just Minimal – Minimal and Meaningful

Minimal and meaningful: one task helps us

understand many related tasks.Minimal and meaningful: one quick look tells

us we don’t need to bother with this (or that

we do).

People best learn about product us

e

by doing something and making

connections in the process.

Learn by doi

ng – put the

concepts where th

ey will be

useful and re

membered.


Presentation © 2013 Ray Gallon all rights reservedPresentation © 2013 Ray Gallon all rights reserved

Provide Decision Support

Modern software’s complexity, features, & power can leave users perplexed – often just when they

have some immediate, contingent need: !

“I need to get this done, and NOW!.”

User assistance that is limited to procedures cannot help people with contingent needs.

People with contingent needs are not going to wade through long conceptual texts.



Help Troubleshoot

Seen this before?

Is it help

ful?

What impression does a user get of your company when s/he sees this on the screen?


Experience is More Important than Taxonomy

In traditional “static” documentation, the product gives meaning to the docs.

Users’ experience with the product takes them from the abstract realm of reading about the product...


Experience is More Important than Taxonomy

In traditional “static” documentation, the product gives meaning to the docs.

Users’ experience with the product takes them from the abstract realm of reading about the product...

to the reality of performance.

!

!

!

!

For software, we can go straight to performance-‐based meaning if we embed the user assistance in the product itself.


Everything We Know…

Get straight to procedures

Don’t waste user’s time with unnecessary detail, especially concepts

Procedural information must be separated from conceptual information.IS WRONG!..


Double Embeddedness

Embed pr

ocedural

User Ass

istance

directly

into the

Interfa

ceEmbed simple concepts directly into the User AssistanceCognitive Science (and John Carroll) backs this up



What Happens When We Learn by Doing?

Roger C. Schank’s Schema -‐ We remember independent, self-‐contained scripts, or Memory Organization Packets (MOP’s)

Restaurant Airplane Clothing Shop

PayBeing seated Eat

Choose

Romantic Conversation

PayBeing seated Eat

Choose

Pay

Choose

Fasten Seatbelt

Try on

MOP’s are composed of scenes, which can be generalized from one MOP to another

Serve wine

REF: http://cogprints.org/637/1/LearnbyDoing_Schank.html



Active Learning: Learning by Doing

Networks of Scenes

Restaurant Airplane Clothing Shop

PayBeing seated Eat

Choose

PayBeing seated Eat

Choose

Pay

Choose

Fasten Seatbelt

Try on

MOP’s are composed of be one MOP to another

Serve wine

REF: http://cogprints.org/637/1/LearnbyDoing_Schank.html

Pay Network

Eat Network

Choose Network


Cognitive Bases: Gestalt Psychology

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology

Gestalt psychology tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain stable percepts in a noisy world.

We fill in blank spaces to complete images.

John Carroll favours this kind of inferential learning in minimalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology





Cognitive Bases: Two Learning TheoriesConstructivism:

Experience Act Self-‐directed, creative, and innovative The context in which the learning occurs is central Learning is active, social, collaborative

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)

Connectivism: Knowledge exists in systems accessed through participation in activities. Learning = creating connections and elaborating a network. Currency (accurate, up-‐to-‐date knowledge) is the intent of learning activities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)


Gestalt Psychology Constructivism (Learning Theory)

Connectivism (Learning Theory)

Basic Precept

The brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-‐organizing tendencies.

Experience an environment first-‐hand to get reliable, trust-‐worthy knowledge.

Learning is more critical than knowing. Learning = creating connections and elaborating a network. !

Implications

The human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts, suggesting the whole is “other” than the sum of its parts.

Learning is an active, social process, leading to collaboration and shared understanding.

Knowledge is activated in the world as much as in the head of an individual.

Most Important Activity Inferential Learning

Act on the environment – acquire and test. Be self-‐directed, creative, and innovative.

Perceiving, maintaining and nurturing connections between fields, ideas and concepts

Role of Instructor (or User

Assistance)

Present just enough information to facilitate inference

Facilitator -‐ point out where user can act on the environment

Constructivist facilitator plus networker -‐ make connections where they don’t seem to exist.

Cognitive Theories Compared


The Underpinning for KANBAN INFORMATION:

• +Know where • Know how • Know what • +Know when Implied:

• +Know how to be • +Know how to be with others

Constructive Connectivism


Kanban Information: Help Users Learn Your Software Fast

We want to give the user all the information s/he needs and only the information s/he needs.

We want to deliver that information when s/he needs it – which implies, at the moment s/he has real work to do.

The logical conclusion is that user assistance needs to be embedded in the software itself, in such a way that:

The user can find it immediately, without excessive searching, if s/he needs it.

If s/he doesn’t need it, it stays out of the way.


As richness of content increases, our knowledge becomes more and more complex, cognit ive ly speaking. We return regularly to the same place, but on a higher cognitive level

COGNITIVE-‐SYMBOLIC COMPLEXITY

RICH

NES

S OF TH

E CO

NTE

NT

+

+-

The Cognitive Spiral:Generating Cognitive Demand

Bloom’s Pyramid

Adapted from a scheme by Dr. Neus Lorenzo

OPPORTUNIT

Y, PRACTIC

E


“EDIBLE!”

-Guide Michelin

What if a Restaurant Advertised itself like this?

Diners don’t want edible They want delicious!

WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE

FOR THE ENTIRE CUSTOM

ER

EXPERIENCE - WHEREVER

WE MAY BE IN THE ORG C

HART

Customers don’t want usable

They want a great experience!


...AND WHEN????

Integrated Competency Learning

Adapted by Dr. Neus Lorenzo from Phil Ball & Keith Kelly (2009) Ref: http://ow.ly/dLK8g & http://goo.gl/Ul3A2

+ Individually significantcontextualisation (contingency)

+Socio-‐cultural construction(information sharing, mentoring)

+Procedural Memorisation

+ Cognitive construction and process reasoning

+Code: Mastery of the language, interface, iconography...

+Thematic knowledge (SME)

User Learning Space

WHERE IN THIS SPACE DO YOU WANT YOUR

USERS?

The architecture of the scenes we design for our user/learners are determinant

factors

http://ow.ly/dLK8g

http://goo.gl/Ul3A2


Blending Concepts and Tasks: Kanban Information meets DITA

We often use concepts to introduce & lead into multiple tasks:

• We don't know how else to do it, but this is an inappropriate use of conceptual information:

• Not good cognitive development • Not good Kanban

Concept: This concept explains what this element of the interface is all about. It is used in the following tasks:

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4


<task> Topic !

!

General conceptual information using the <context> element Include decision support

(Reusable for related tasks)

Blending Concepts and Tasks: Kanban Information meets DITA

Why not use the DITA Task topic structure to deliver conceptual information where it will do the most good and be best remembered?

Step 1 <cmd> <stepresult> – What happens after execution – can include why

Step 2 <cmd> <info> – Use when there is no result to embed concepts pertinent to the step. Make sure it relates to the task, but is also generalisable to other similar tasks, if appropriate


!

Example<shortdesc> (from tool tip)

<context> The first <p> comes

from tool tip

oXygen Author


Use <choice> lists to include conceptual information

<cmd>

<choices>

<info>

FrameMaker 11


<choicetable> offers another option

<cmd>

<choicetable>

All these elements are available after a <cmd>. Use the one that works best, semantically.


DITA Composite Topic – One Size Fits All

The composite topic begins, simply, with a <dita> tag. You can then insert any type of DITA topic, nested within it. !Use with great caution!


User A

ssista

nce ha

s

to be

Google

able!

And needs to come up first…

A Group is not a Community

“Finding is the new Doing” –Ian Barker

Create your own stakeholder communities- including user/learners as full collaborators



Integrated Learning Communities

Make you

r cookie

s PublicLet people know what you

are tracking.

Attribute ma

terial you r

euse in

your UA – fr

om both

Treat

inside

stake

holder

s and

custom

ers th

e same

way

Turn users’

tips and tri

cks

into trainin

g materials



Email: [email protected]

Thank You!

Google Plus: +Ray Gallon Twitter: @RayGallon LinkedIn: Ray Gallon

Check out my blog, Rant of a Humanist Nerd:http://humanistnerd.culturecom.net

Portions of this presentation based on research by

the Transformation Society Research group.

Link to related Adobe webinars here: http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2013/02/cognitive_design_user_assistance.html

Two white papers published on Adobe site: •Changing Paradigms in Technology and Communication •Crossing Boundaries: Implications for the Content Industries Link: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?event=custom&sku=FS0003673&e=tcs_whitepaper

http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2013/02/cognitive_design_user_assistance.html







http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?event=custom&sku=FS0003673&e=tcs_whitepaper



Applying Cognitive Science to User Assistance

Technology

Transcript of Applying Cognitive Science to User Assistance