atw: Re: Research on when customers need or want online help or manuals?
- From: "Stuart Burnfield" <slb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 15:06:01 +0800
Hi Catherine. I don't know of any empirical proof that we need Help or
videos or manuals as things separate from the product.
I find this a useful way to think of documentation:
I, the user/customer, want to accomplish something. Let's say I want
to transfer some money internationally. Ideally, I open the software
or web application and just fill in all the necessary information.
It's just a list of fields but I know what to do and the money is sent
securely and correctly as intended. I don't need to ask any questions,
guess at the meaning of any fields or take any unnecessary steps. The
UI is so well defined and the transaction so well understood that it's
just obvious.
In practice, we know that's rarely the case except for very trivial
applications. People need information to help them fill out the form
correctly for their personal situation. It might be my hundredth money
transfer or my first. I might be nervous around computers, or a
visitor and unfamiliar with the local banking jargon. If every bit of
potentially useful information were provided in the form itself, it
would be as dense and as long as the phone book.
We need to make this additional information selectively available as
users need it. Putting it in the form is cheap but the available space
is limited. 'Space' in the form of help files, manuals and videos is
practically unlimited but it's expensive to produce and time-consuming
and probably frustrating for the user. If they can't find the answer
there, they have to phone or email your support desk or angrily swear
off your company forever--both even more expensive options.
So the empirical proof you want is the percentage of your clients who
can successfully complete transactions with the aid of Help, videos
and manuals versus the percentage that are successful without them.
You need to test and observe _your _customers doing representative
transactions.
Regards,
Stuart
----- Original Message -----
From: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To:
Sent:Mon, 15 Dec 2014 12:11:00 -0800
Subject:atw: Re: Research on when customers need or want online help
or manuals?
Hi all,
I’m looking for some research that discusses when customers need or
want a manual or help file- especially for those dealing with
financial systems. If anyone has links for these, can you please
share them?
I've already been looking at Jacob Nielsen's sites. What I'd like to
see is any empirical proof that we need Help or videos or manuals to
aid in moving clients through a complex system or a system that
involves their money (or any system where they are nervous and the
stakes are high).
Thanks very much in advance!
ps. I am usually a lurker on this list. I’m a Canadian tech writer
with family ties to Melbourne. At one time, I was hoping to move there
but have not been able to
I still enjoy your list though!
Sincerely,
CATHERINE GIRCZYC
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