Re: Ideas for Help 2.0
... users want attractive help, but they also want effective help.
As a user of some of the help available on the web I am particularly annoyed when I am handed a set of "the most popular" answers that completely fails to address my actual problem.
Occasionally a help system asks the user to distinguish between two nearly identical products, assuming that the user is somehow aware of which one he has. Or (even worse) it asks the user to provide the name of the division of the company that services the particular model. I do not want the help system for my Ford 150 truck to ask me whether it was assembled in Dearborn, Long Beach or Hapeville.
Also annoying is the question that asks the already frustrated user to rate the effectiveness of the help system, omitting the obvious possibility of "Totally Useless."
Is the boss who wants a "kick-ass" help system looking for brighter chrome, or for a more reliable transmission? The only time I worked on a help system the answer was chrome. "Help" was a static entity that, once finished, should need no further effort, ever. There were no plans for maintaining or testing the system.
I would guess that the right place to start is not CSS web technology, but investigation of users' annoyances.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com
To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.
Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
References:
Ideas for Help 2.0: From: Roger Goodman
RE: Ideas for Help 2.0: From: Ed Marsh
Previous by Author:
Re: Your Thoughts on This Solution
Next by Author:
Re: documentation going away
Previous by Thread:
RE: Ideas for Help 2.0
Next by Thread:
RE: Ideas for Help 2.0
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads