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Subject:I'm Just Curious. What Do You Think? From:debora ames <deboraames -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:"TechWhirl (techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com)" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Sat, 20 May 2023 04:05:47 +0000
Hello, my peers. There's a debate within the Doc team. We have a digital-adoption platform on which floats a signature application with some high-level flows and tooltips; and access to brief articles in the Help center. The flows are rather You can do this here instead of a more focused This is how you do it. Half of our surveyed customers can easily intuit what to do; the other half seeks more info (What does this mean?, I assumed I could do this...; More training, please, Need more instructions).
Before obtaining the platform, I was tasked to create a full help set (in Madcap's Flare). So, I created detailed instructions and clearly marked-and captioned screenshots (as directed by the product managers) of the entire application. And I'm a conversational writer, so it's really easy to understand (plus I user-test, then write). However, this helpset info hasn't yet been moved to the platform in the form of videos, knowledge bases, HTML pages, PDFs, micro content...all the forms it can be added to the platform. It'll be about 4-6 months to get that done, when given the OK to start.
BTW, this helpset can be accessed via a Help link (about 8pt. Arial) at the bottom edge of the UI. (if you squinch, you may see it). But, this is the difference of opinions:
* One opinion is: For those customers who want those answers, don't just tell them Click the link. Make it simple, and send them a quick email stating This is what you're looking for..., shows a screenshot of step 6. (or steps 6-8!) of ABC procedure, and also includes those clearly marked-and-captioned screenshots. IF they contact you and want to know more, say Click that Help link at the bottom of your screen, then "ABC" topic in the TOC you'll immediately see. Then say, Eventually, we'll have all that information added to the platform. But, in the meantime, you can find any other info you need, if you want, in that helpset.
* The other is: Why bother with that when we're gonna eventually get everything onto the platform? Don't you know we're aiming for "Out with the old and in with the NEW?!" Tired of hearing about it. Get with the program!
Since our customer base are legal/medical/governmental/regulatory/regular folks online-faxing documents that need to be signed and returned in a timely manner—and the very real company goal is to retain and increase this base for ROI-proven reasons (so you don't want them to get frustrated and cancel out of the initial free, or paid, subscription), what do you think? (I'm of opinion #1, 'cause on a prior job at a company that developed contract-management software for commercial real-estate enterprises, Client/Professional Services would come to me with those same questions from particular customers who would call in 'cause they couldn't find or figure something out. I would send that exact email to the rep, who would forward it immediately to the customer. Greatly! appreciated by all.)
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