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Z E N and the Art of Online Help

Part 2. Z E N and the Art of Online Help. Speaker: Mark Bloom. What is Zen?. What the dictionary says. What does the definition mean to us? How does the definition apply to us as technical writers?. Get to Know the Product. Not from the inside out, but from the outside in.

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Z E N and the Art of Online Help

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  1. Part 2 Z E Nand the Art ofOnline Help Speaker: Mark Bloom

  2. What is Zen? • What the dictionary says. • What does the definition mean to us? • How does the definition apply to us as technical writers?

  3. Get to Know the Product • Not from the inside out, but from the outside in. • What tasks will it do? • Know each command and dialog box. • Fight for context-sensitive help.

  4. Get to Know the Users • Ask them questions. • Find out how they use the product. • Is it different from what they are used to? • Conduct usability testing!

  5. Organize the Help Information • What do users need to know? • Develop an outline. • Organize the outlineto be clear! • Create Zen simplicity.

  6. Determine the Delivery Method • What’s the best way to get the information to the users? • Solve the core problems. • What are your options? • How do you decide?

  7. Chunk the Help Information • How big are topics supposed to be? • Is it OK to force multiple clicking? • Design issue: Are there alternatives to the TOC and index? • What are some creative ideas? Examples.

  8. Putting It All Together (1 of 2) • The three key design traits: • Bridge gaps. • Supply roadmaps. • Be clear. • Be consistent.

  9. Putting It All Together (2 of 2) • Use graphics effectively. • Provide examples. • Whenever possible, conduct usability testing! • When possible, put the help information into the user interface.

  10. Zen Formatting Ideas • What’s the Zen of formatting? • Separate the information. • Draw attention to what’s important. • When to use graphics… • When to use white space… IMPORTANT! Normal

  11. More Zen Formatting Ideas • Window size… • Secondary windows… • Using hyperlinks effectively... • Font size… • Remember: 5 +/- 2.

  12. Bibliography • “Beyond Traditional Documentation” by User Interface Engineering (world.std.com/~uieweb). • Designing and Writing Online Documentation by William Horton. • Designing Windows 95 Helpby Mary Deaton and Cheryl Lockett Zubak. • Developing Online Help for Windowsby Scott Boggan, David Farkas, and Joe Welinske. • “Reinventing Yourself for the Millenium” by Clear Point Consultants, Inc. (www.clearpnt.com).

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