NAME: ARIGE GUL

Roll no: 7416

Department: computer science
Semester: 7th
Subject: HCI
Topic: help and user documentation
Submitted to: mam qudsia
HELP AND USER DOCUMENTATION IN HCI
Standardization and improvements in user interfaces have made computer applications easier to
use, but using new interfaces is still a challenge. Challenges can be joyous and satisfying, but
when it comes to learning about computer systems, many people experience anxiety, frustration,
and disappointment.

Paper vs. online manuals

Forms of paper user manuals :

 Install manual
 Brief getting-started notes
 Introductory tutorial
 Thorough tutorial
 Detailed reference manual
 Quick reference card
 Conversation manual
Online materials :
 Online manual
 Online help
 Context-sensitive help
 Online tutorial
 Animated demonstration
 Guides
 FAQs
 Online communities, newsgroups, list servers, e-mail, chat, and instant messaging
There are many reasons to have online manuals:

 Physical advantages
 Navigation features
 Interactive services
 Economic advantages
However, these advantages can be compromised by potentially serious
negative side effects
 Displays may not be as readable as paper manuals
 Each display may contain substantially less information than a sheet of paper
 The user interface of online help systems may be novel and confusing to
novices
 The extra mental effort required for navigating through many screen may
interfere with concentration and learning, and annotation can be difficult
 Splitting the display between work and help or tutorial windows reduces the
space for work displays
  Small devices such as cell phones do not have enough display space to provide
online help
Potential Disadvantages in Reading from Displays:
 Poor fonts, especially on low resolution displays.
 Low contrast between characters and the background.
 Fuzzy character boundaries.
 Emitted light from displays may be more difficult to read by than reflected light
from paper.
 Glare may be greater on displays.
USER MANUAL GUIDELINES:
User manual guidelines based on practice and empirical studies (Carroll et al) :

 Choose an action-oriented approach

 Let users’ tasks guide organization
 Support error recognition and recovery
 Support reading to do, study, and locate

Kearsley's guidelines for online help systems:

 Make the help system easy to access and easy to return from.
 Make help as specific as possible.
 Collect data to determine what help is needed.
 Give users as much control as possible over the help system.
 Make help messages accurate and complete.
 Do not use help to compensate for poor interface design.

User documentation
This content is used gratefully with permission from docdepartment.com. Technical
documentation refers to the documentation that describes how a product or service operates. For
example, software code documentation, technical specifications and API documentation.

User documentation refers to the documentation for a product or service provided to the end
users. The user documentation is designed to assist end users to use the product or service. This
is often referred to as user assistance. The user documentation is a part of the overall product
delivered to the customer.

Traditionally user documentation was provided as a user guide, instruction manual or online
help. However, user documentation is increasingly being delivered online today. This has
enabled technical writers to be more imaginative in how they assist users.

User documentation is important because it provides a avenue for users to learn:

1. how to use your software

 2. features of your software
3. tips and tricks of your software
4. how to resolve common problems with your software

Without user documentation, a user may not know how to do the above things

What does user documentation usually include?

The list below is used with gratitude from the Dartford computer science department.

 Minimum hardware and software requirements

 Installation guide
 How to start the system
 How to use different features of the system
 Screenshots explaining main features of the system
 Example inputs and outputs
 Explanations of error messages and troubleshooting guides
 Information to contact the developer of the system if an undocumented question arises

The quality of user documentation can affect the rate of implementation of the new system.
Examples should include methods such as: help files, online support and printed manuals.

Real-world practical

I once heard a rumor about Steve Jobs. According to this rumor, he said "if you need to write a
manual for your software, you have done something wrong". I think the point of this rumor is to
design your software to be as clear as easy as possible to use. However, good user documentation
can make or break the success of your product. The design, presentation, and evaluation of your
user documentation is really important part of developing software. Sadly, it is also an area
much-neglected, as software developers might think it is boring.

Evaluating user documentation:

Method Advantages Disadvantages

 you might not get level of detail

 User friendly
you want
 really fast
help files  the user might not know what to
 easy to use
search for
 can be accessed offline
 Might be hard to find

 larger amount of
 can't be accessed offline
online information
 if you have slow internet
support  easier to update
connection, it's bad.
 can access from any
device
  can be faster

 slower
 easy to find  if you lose it, you're going to have a
printed  you can browse through bad day
manuals them  harder to search
 work without a computer  cannot be updated
 prone to physical destruction

QUESTIONS:
1. Why we need help and user documentation in HCI?
2. What are the advantages of online manual?
3. However, the advantages of online manual compromised by potentially serious negative
side effects?
4. What are Kearsley’s guidelines for online help systems?
5. What does user documentation usually include?

OBJECTIVE:
1. Standardization and improvements in ______________have made computer applications
easier to use.
2. In online manual Displays may not be as readable as_________.
3. User documentation refers to the ___________for a product or service provided to the
end users.
4. The quality of user documentation can affect the rate of _____________ of the new system.
5. Information to contact the developer of the system if an ____________ question arises.
6. Without user documentation, a user may not know how to do the feature of the
___________.
7. ___________user documentation was provided as a user guide, instruction manual or
online help.
8. The user documentation is a part of the overall product delivered to the __________.
9. The user documentation is designed to assist _________to use the product or service.
10. Each display may contain substantially less information than a _________ of
paper.