Help and Documentation

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Agenda

• User Support Requirements

• Types of doc/help

• User Support Approaches

• Presentation issues

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User Support

• Help– Problem-oriented and specific

• Documentation– System-oriented and general

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Help & Documentation

• Never a replacement for bad design, but essential

• Simple system

• Most other systems with rich features require help

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Documentation

• Kebanyakan user tidak suka membaca manual– Boring, no goal– start working

• Sering digunakan saat kondisi panik, ketika user membutuhkan bantuan secepatnya

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User Support Requirements

• Ketersediaan– Should be available any time the user is

operating the system

• Ketelitian & Kelengkapan– Should be accurate (tricky with changing

versions) and should cover all aspects of application

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User Support Requirements

• Konsisten– Across different sections, between on-line and

paper documentation, in terminology, content and style

• Ketahanan– Should be predictable and free of errors

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User Support Requirements

• Fleksibilitas– Mulai dari user awam sampai yg ahli

• Unobtrusiveness– Tidak mengacaukan

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Types of Doc/Help

• 1. Tutorial

• 2. Quick reference/review

• 3. Reference Manual (Full explanation)

• 4. Context-sensitive (task-specific) help

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Types of Doc/Help

• 1. Tutorial– For start-up– Gets user going– Convey conceptual model– Communicate essential items– Sometimes see on-line tour or demo– http://www.rsinc.com/envi/

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Types of Doc/Help

• 2. Quick reference/review– Reminder or short reference– Often for syntax– Can be recall aid for expert– Can allow novice to see what’s available– http://www.computerbooksonline.com/wproc/w

pdchap.htm– http://imbolc.ucc.ie/~pflynn//books/

htmlcard.html

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Types of Doc/Help

• 3. Reference Manual (Full explanation)– Detailed command descriptions– Usually for experts– Unix on-line manual pages, for example– http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/

technology/sts-newsref/stsref-toc.html

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Reference Manual

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Types of Doc/Help

• 4. Context-sensitive (task-specific) help– System provides help on current

situation– Macintosh balloon help, for

example– Other examples?

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User Support Approaches

• Command assistance– Detil spesifik pada command tertentu, seperti

MAN pada linux/unix– Bagus jika user tahu apa yg diinginkan

• Command prompts– Message ketika user melakukan kesalahan

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User Support Approaches

• Context-sensitive help– Knowledge of

particular user to information pertinent to a particular situation or interface item

Title bar

To move the window, position the pointer in the title bar,

press the button, and drag it to the new position

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User Support Approaches

Wizards• Takes user through procedure step by step• Inflexible, & often slow.• Also problematic if user gets stuck

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User Support Approaches

• On-line tutorials– Work through simple

examples, provide a feel for application

– http://w3.aces.uiuc.edu/AIM/scale/tutorials.html

– http://www.w3schools.com/

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User Support Approaches

• On-line documentation– How much like paper doc?– Electronic can emphasize hypertext, indexing,

and searching more– http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/

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Advantages of on-line help• Always available with the application - paper

manuals often unavailable• Don’t require extra desk space. • Electronically updated – fast & low cost • Electronic searching facilitates rapid location of

specific information • Can use graphics, sound, color, and animations

to explain complex functions • Can provide interactive & context specific help• Links to other on-line resources

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Disadvantages of on-line help

• Reading screens always slower than paper

• Small displays require frequent page turning

• Display resolution less than printed material (v. important when graphics are used)

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Medium

• Paper versus monitor

• Studies show that people are 15-30% slower reading and comprehending text from a display as compared to paper

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Presentation Issues• Integrate with system, don’t “add on”• 1. How is help requested?

– Command, button, function, separate applic– Advantages, disadvantages?

• 2. How is help displayed?– Separate window, whole screen, part of screen, on

top of applic., pop-up box, command line, highlighted button, light bulb..

– Largely depends on what type of help it is

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Peluang?

• http://www.hci.com.au/

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Presentation Issues• 3. Effective presentation of help

– Design it like any other part of UI: language, terminology, jargon, etc.

– Use active voice• “To close a window, place the mouse cursor in the box at

the upper right corner (with the X) and click the mouse button.”

• 4. Implementation issues– Fast response time is important– How is help stored? File, database, …?