28-May-16

Human Computer Interaction

Lecture 16

User Support

User Support

• Main Types of user support

– quick reference, task specific help, full
explanation, tutorial

• Issues
– different types of support at different times
– implementation and presentation both
important
– all need careful design
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Requirements of User Support

• Accuracy and completeness
– help matches actual system behaviour
• Otherwise user is disappointed
– help covers complete system
• Otherwise user will be frustrated

• Consistency
– between different parts of the help system and paper
documentation
• In terms of content, terminology and style of
presentation

Requirements of User Support

• Availability
– Available at any time. User should not need to close the
main application.
– continuous access concurrent to main application
• Windows versus Non-windows based systems
• Robustness
– Users who use help system are in difficulty
– correct error handling and predictable behaviour
• otherwise user will not rely on help for getting
assistance

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Requirements of User Support

• Flexibility
Adaptation of help system according to context
allows user to interact in a way appropriate to user
experience and task at hand
• Adaptive help systems

• Unobtrusiveness
does not prevent the user continuing with normal work
• Two Extreme Cases: Windows versus Non-windows
based systems
• A suggest option in case of Adaptive help system

Approaches to User Support

• Command assistance
– User help on particular command
e.g., UNIX man, DOS help, search in windows help
– Simple, efficient and good for quick reference
– Assumes user know what to look for, which is often not the
case
• There can be commands that user need to write

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Approaches to User Support

• Context sensitive help
help request interpreted according to context in which it
occurs.
e.g. tool tips, What’s this option, web rollovers
Doesn't assume command knowledge on user side

Approaches to user support (contd.)

• On-line tutorials
– user works through basics of application in a test
environment (e.g. working with examples or watching
a demonstration)
– User can progress at his own speed
– can be useful but are often inflexible.
– An alternate is to learn a reduced version of the system
by experimenting and exploring

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Approaches to user support (contd.)

• On-line documentation
– Provides a full description of the system’s functionality
and behaviour in a systematic manner
– paper documentation is made available on computer.
– continually available in common medium
– can be difficult to browse
• Use of hypertext can help
– user can lose track of where he is and where he
has been
– Solution: Minimal Manual (40 % faster than full
manual)
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Approaches to user support (contd.)

• Wizards
– task specific tool leads the user through task, step by step,
using user’s answers to specific questions
– example: resumé
– useful for safe completion of complex or infrequent tasks
– constrained task execution so limited flexibility
– Should have following characteristics
• Allow user to go back and forward
• Indicate progress
• Offer sufficient information for users to answer
questions
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Approaches to user support (contd.)

• Assistants
– monitor user behaviour and offer contextual advice
– can be irritating e.g. MS paperclip due to its long list of
suggestions and continuous animations (Obtrusiveness)
– must be under user control (activate/de-activate)

• Command prompts
– Provide information about correct usage when an error
occurs
– Good for simple / syntactic errors
– again assumes knowledge of the command
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Adaptive Help Systems

• Use knowledge of the context, individual user, task and
domain to provide help adapted to user's needs.
• Operates by monitoring the activity of the user and
constructing a user model of him
– This may contain a model of his experience, preferences,
mistakes, or a combination of some or all of these.
– Using this knowledge adaptive help system will present
help relevant to user’s current task and suited to his
experience
• Not so simple as it sounds

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Adaptive Help Systems

• Problems
– knowledge requirements considerable
– what should be adapted?
– what is the scope of the adaptation?
• Operating System / Application

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Designing user support

• Things to consider
– User support is not an `add on’
• should be designed integrally with the system.
• Will result in more consistency and relevancy

– Concentrate on content and context of help rather

than technological issues.
• Will help to clarify what type of help is required

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Presentation issues
• Effective presentation requires
• Instructional Material Design
– Clear and familiar language
– Instructional material should be consistent between paper
and online manual and even within different types of
online help
– instructional rather than descriptive language
• To close the window, click on the box in the top-right corner of the
window
rather than
• Windows can be closed by clicking on the box in the top right-hand
corner of the window
– Should not make assumptions about what the user knows
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Presentation issues
• Effective presentation requires
• Physical Layout Design
– Avoid blocks of text rather use clear logical sections
– Provide summary at the end
– Index of related topics can be used as summary
– Consistency: where to look for a particular information
– clear indication of summary and example information

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Implementation issues
• Implementation requires
– Will help be an operating system command, a meta-
command or an application
– Physical constraints in terms of screen space, memory
capacity and speed
• Speed is specially important
– How help data is to be structured: a single text file,
hypertext files hierarchy, DBMS etc.
• Should support flexibility and extensibility
– If user wants to make hard copy of some help topic
• Will this facility be provided as part of support system?
• Should support WYSIWYG
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Guidelines for online documentation

• Use clear structure with headings to provide signposting.
• Organize information according to user tasks.
• Keep sentences short, to the point and jargon free. Use simple
language.
• Set out procedures in order and numbered steps. Highlight
important steps.
• Use examples where possible.
• Support searching via an index, contents, glossary and free
search
• Include a list of error messages.
• Include Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) with clear answers.