Screenshots in hotspots: a good idea?

[Shreyas Doshi <shreyasd -at- relsys -dot- net>]

Hi everyone,

Our current user help has a lot of screenshots that are apparently
"critical" to user understanding. 

Here is how the paper version of a topic in our current help looks like:

1. Do this. The "foo" dialog will appear.
	[Screenshot of a typical "foo" box]
2. In the "foo" dialog, click "bar". The "foobar" dialog will appear.
	[Screenshot of "foobar" dialog]
.
.
....you get the picture.

My job is to convert this manual to RoboHelp HTML, to be used in both MS
HTML help and WebHelp formats.

I have quickly realized that inclusion of screenshots as above might work
for the paper version, but does not make good reading for online help. Even
a procedure with 7 steps that has screenshots embedded between steps, as
above, runs to 3-4 screens and hence, entails considerable scrolling.

I was wondering if it might be a good idea to include screenshots in drop
down hotspots, a feature easily implementable using RoboHelp. 

Thus, the new version would look something like:

1. Do this. The <hs>"foo" dialog</hs> will appear.

2. In the "foo" dialog, click "bar". The <hs>"foobar" dialog</hs> will
appear.

... where <hs> foo </hs> indicates a hotspot that will display the
appropriate screenshot when "foo" is clicked.

Thus, if the user wants to know what a particular dialog box should look
like, he/she will click on the hotspot. If he/she does not require
assistance about how the screenshot looks or the different options available
from a dialog box, it will remain hidden and thereby enhance readability.

Am I using the right approach to tackle this problem? Could I use another
approach or modify this approach? Did you ever have to create a "screenshot
intensive" user help for which you had to resort to a similar technique?

It can be assumed that removing screenshots altogether from the help is not
an option in my particular situation.

I would be glad if you could share your experiences about such a situation.
Kindly cc: me on your reply as I am on a digest.

Thank you,
Shreyas.






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