Help and Do cumen tation Ov erview Users require di�eren t t yp es of supp ort at di�eren t times but all user supp ort should ful�ll some basic requiremen ts. Implemen tation and presen tation b oth need to b e considered in designing user supp ort. T yp es of user supp ort quic k reference � task sp eci�c help � full explanation � tutorial � Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (1) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
These ma y b e pro vided b y help and/or do cumen tation help | problem-orien ted and sp eci�c � do cumen tation | system-orien ted and � general The same design principles apply to b oth. Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (2) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Requiremen ts | con tin uous access concurren t to A vailability main applicati on. | help matc hes A c cur acy and c ompleteness actual system b eha viour and co v ers all asp ects of system b eha viour. | di�eren t parts of the help system Consistency and an y pap er do cumen tation are consisten t in con ten t, terminology and presen tation. | correct error handling and R obustness predictable b eha viour. | allo ws user to in teract in a w a y Flexibility appropriate to exp erience and task. | do es not prev en t the user Unobtrusiveness con tin uing with w ork nor in terfere with application. Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (3) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Approac hes to user supp ort Command assistance User requests help on particular command. e.g., UNIX man, DOS help. Go o d for quic k reference. Assumes user kno w what to lo ok for. Command prompts Pro vide information ab out correct usage when an error o ccurs. Go o d for simple syn tactic errors. Also assumes kno wledge of the command. Con text sensitiv e help Help request in terpreted according to con text in whic h it o ccurs. e.g., Sp y , Ballo ons Help. On-line tutorials User w orks through basics of application in a test en vironmen t. Can b e useful but are often in�exible. On-line do cumen tation P ap er do cumen tation is made a v ailable on computer. Con tin ually a v ailable in common medium but can b e di�cult to bro wse. Hyp ertext used to supp ort bro wsing. Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (4) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
In telligen t Help Use kno wledge of the individual user, task, domain and instruction to pro vide help adapted to user's needs. Problems kno wledge requiremen ts considerable � who has con trol of the in teraction> � what should b e adapted? � what is the scop e of the adaptation? � Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (5) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Kno wledge represen tation User mo del ling All help systems ha v e a mo del of the user single, generic user (non-in tellige n t) � user-con�gured mo del (adaptable) � system-con�gure mo del (adaptiv e) � Approac hes quan ti�cation | user mo v es b et w een lev els � of exp ertise based on quan titativ e measure of what he kno ws. stereot yp es | user is classi�ed in to a � particular category . o v erla y | an idealiz ed mo del of exp ert use � is constructed and actual use compared to it. Mo del ma y con tain the commonalit y b et w een these t w o or the di�erence. Sp ecial case: user b eha viour compared to kno wn error catalogue. Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (6) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Domain and task mo del ling Co v ers common errors and tasks � curren t task � Usually in v olv es analysis of command sequences. Problems represen ting tasks � in terlea v ed tasks � user in ten tion � A dvisory str ate gy In v olv es c ho osing the correct st yle of advice for a giv en situation. E.g. reminder, tutorial, etc. F ew in telli gen t help systems mo del advisory strategy but c hoice of strategy is still imp ortan t. Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (7) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
T ec hniques for kno wledge represen tatio n rule based | kno wledge presen ted as rules � and facts in terpreted using inference mec hanism. E.g. logic, pro duction rules. Can b e used in relativ ely large domains. frame based | kno wledge stored in � structures, eac h ha ving slots whic h can b e �lled. Useful for a small domain. net w ork based | kno wledge represen ted as � relationships b et w een facts. E.g. seman tic net w ork. Can b e used to link frames. example based | kno wledge represen ted � implicitl y within decision structure. T rained to classify rather than programmed with rules. Requires littl e kno wledge acquisiti on. Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (8) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Problems with in tellig en t help systems kno wledge acquisiti on � resources � in terpretation of user b eha viour � Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (9) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Issues in in telli gen t help systems initiati v e | do es the user retain con trol or � can the system direct the in teraction? Can the system in terrupt the user to o�er help? e�ect | what is going to b e adapted and � what information is needed to do this? Only mo del what is needed. scop e | is mo delling at applicati on or � system lev el? Latter more complex. E.g. exp ertise v aries b et w een applications. Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (10) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Designing user supp ort User supp ort is not an `add on' | it should b e designed in tegrally with the system. Should concen trate on con ten t and con text of help rather than tec hnological issues. Presen tation issues Ho w is help requested? command � button � function (on/o� ) � separate application � Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (11) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Ho w is help displa y ed? new windo w � whole screen � split screen � p op-up b o xes � hin t icons � E�ectiv e presen tation requires clear, familiar, consisten t language � instructional rather than descriptiv e � language a v oidance of blo c ks of text � clear indication of summary and example � information Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (12) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
Implemen tation issues Is help op erating system command � meta command � application � What resources are a v ailable? screen space � memory capacit y � sp eed � Structure of help data single �le � �le hierarc h y � database � Considerations �exibili t y and extensibili t y � hard cop y � bro wsing � Human{Com puter In teraction, Pren tice Hall Help and Do cumen tation (13) A. Dix, J. Finla y , G. Ab o wd and R. Beale � c 1993 Chapter 12
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