RE: Encouraging users to read online help

["Lathrop, Sarah" <Sarah-Lathrop -at- forum-financial -dot- com>]

Iggy said:

<<The fact remains - help was added and users still call
support. you need to make help MORE convenient for
them than calling support. How you do that is up to
you, but my advice is to integrate help into the
interface and their workflow as much as possible.>>


Joel Spolsky wrote a book called "User Interface Design for Programmers." In the chapter "Designing for People Who Have Better Things To Do With Their Lives" he starts by saying:
 
"Users don't have the manual, and if they did, they wouldn't read it. 
In fact, users can't read anything, and if they could, they wouldn't want to. 

These are not, strictly speaking, facts, but you should act as if they are facts, for it will make your program easier and friendlier. Designing with these ideas in mind is called respecting the user, which means, not having much respect for the user. Confused? Let me explain."

You can read the rest of it on his web site:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000062.html

Sarah




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you 
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of 
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.