Re: usability of WinHelp features

["David M. Brown" <dmbrown -at- BROWN-INC -dot- COM>]

Dan Roberts asked for opinions on:
>
> * Hotspot popups in graphics.

One of our few clients who still include full-dialog screen shots actually
uses both solutions:  A topic starts with a brief description of the dialog
box, how you get there, and what it's for.  Then there's a reduced-size
screen shot with pop-ups and a short sentence ("Click on an area for a
description").  Finally, the pop-up topics are reproduced verbatim for users
who prefer to print out the help.

>
> * Popups for field definitions in procedures.

I'd avoid pop-ups in procedures:  too much green text (and too many
opportunities to get sidetracked) makes them hard to follow.

Consider putting the field descriptions in a separate "field glossary" and
including a link or button so it's accessible from everywhere.

>
> * Tasks in the TOC.

A "How do I?" section in the TOC is pretty standard, nowadays, and costs
next to nothing.  What's to lose?

>
> If anyone has any sort of input from their customers about their online
help

Our clients with novice users love training cards (a "special kind" of
help), but very few are willing to pay for them--the impact on developer and
writer time is pretty high.

Finally, let me say three words about usability:  index, index, index.

--David

=============================
 David M. Brown - Brown Inc.
    dmbrown -at- brown-inc -dot- com
=============================

A V A I L A B L E   N O W !        http://www.html-indexer.com/

HTML Indexer 3.1, still the easiest way to create and maintain
back-of-the-book indexes for web sites and other HTML documents.

Now including options for HTML Help and JavaHelp indexes, too!

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=