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Re: What should my Help do? was: Online Help Usability
Subject:Re: What should my Help do? was: Online Help Usability From:Jonathan Price <jonprice -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 12 Apr 1994 23:10:03 EDT
lffunkhouser -at- HALNET -dot- COM asks about what to include in help.
I like having the screenshots with hotspots, because within a help system,
people often want to browse following their own reasoning, and they may not
have that particular window open. And, yes, generally screenshots are
bitmapped, and therefore take up a lot of room. But people will like you for
it, anyway, even if the system becomes uniformly slower. (Just don't make it
a little fast here, and a little slow there: the unpredictability drives
people nuts.)
You should also include a set of step-by-step procedures for carrying out the
tasks the customer wants to get done, using your software. These belong in
the browse part of help.
And, yes, your idea of an upgrade path (if you used the old system, here's
how to get the same thing done in our gui). This makes a very useful section
of your browse help.
Good luck,
Jonathan Price
Communication Circle
918 La Senda NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107
