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Subject:RE: Usefulness of "What's This" help From:"David B. Stewart" <dbstewart -at- dswrite -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 29 May 2001 14:45:52 -0500
>>...these pop-up all too often don't have enough meaty info about the item
in
question...<snip>
...Specifically, first have the developers change the API call to
be a topic jump (to a banner topic) instead of a pop-up call. <<
Why not just add more meat to the pop-up? If someone bothers to create a
pop-up, its content should be insightful.
The GUI design should imply something as simple as basic function, e.g.
"lists widgets" or "adds new task". A pop-up echoing the implied function
is rather useless to me. If the GUI fails to properly imply function, I'm
already mildly frustrated and the pop-up had better feed me to calm me down.
Personally, I have found "What's This" content to be lacking (if present at
all) in products I have used. Of those, I honestly can't think of a single
product that has used the feature consistently. If pressing the F1 key
doesn't provide the help I need, I'm usually not inclined to look for a "?"
button to point-and-click upon. Perhaps I became so disenchanted that I
stopped looking.
It would be good to see a study of why we have "What's This" in the first
place. It would be better to see a study of whether the feature met the
intended need. I think it has not.
Regards,
Dave Stewart
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-71190 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-71190 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of Glenn Maxey
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 1:29 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Usefulness of "What's This" help
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