Content-Centric Design The Future of Online User Assistance

1. Presented by: Edward Galore, University of Washington / Microsoft David Farkas, University of Washington Janet Galore, Microsoft Mark Huentelman, Microsoft Bruce Keever, Microsoft Zherina Salamanca, University of Washington Content-Centric DesignThe Future of Online User Assistance

2. A contemporary help scenario • User searches for “invitation template” • User is looking for a way to create an invitation using Word

3. This isn’t quite right... But where to go next?

4. What we’ll cover • The problem is discoverability Traditional models of user assistance inhibit discoverability for large online help systems • Examples from Office Online • Content-centric design • Applications • Conclusions the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

5. The problem

6. The problem is discoverability • The trick is getting the right content to the right user at the right time, even when they don’t know the right terms • Site hierarchies are designed based on an educated guess as to where the user will go • Hierarchies don’t adapt to new content types and unexpected user behavior • We have good intentions and excellent content • Every new feature requires new help content and each help article dilutes discoverability the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

7. Coming in deep Users do not always come in through the “front door” via a Web site’s homepage Users often “come in deep” and are lost without the context provided on a homepage they may never see the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

8. Example: external referrals to Office Online • Over a 3-month period • 99M referrals (75%) were to the top 5 home pages • 24M referrals came to other pages and content • 6,502 different entry points Number of visits Entry pages the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

9. Invisible hierarchies • Web sites are structured according to a designer imposed hierarchy • Search technologies obviate hierarchy and decontextualize content • Site architecture becomes largely invisible to site users ? the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

10. Limits of traditional help system Information Architecture • Traditional help system IA: • Is modeled on a hardcopy table of contents • Tends towards linearity • Is inadequate for large, complex products • Ignores realities of continuous publishing and user provided content and user tagging the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

11. Content needs context • Search ignores hierarchy • In the absence of an explicit hierarchy, other methods must be employed to provide context • Encapsulating context within content is content-centric design the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

12. Content-centric design • The primacy of Search is recognized and supported • Hierarchy becomes just another piece of metadata • Empowers users by allowing them to validate content and forge new paths among content the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

13. Microsoft OFFICE ONLINE

14. What is Office Online? Office Online is the broad customer connection for Office. It’s where Office customers go to get help, software updates, training, clip art, templates, services, and more Goals • Increase customer satisfaction • Increase customer productivity • Increase revenue through upgrades, sales, and advertising office.microsoft.com the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

15. How big is Office Online? • Over 70M unique users per month worldwide • In the top 30 sites on the Web (US unique users) • 48 markets, 34+ languages • Over 800M page views per month worldwide • Supports over 25 Office branded products • Over 150,000 clips, 1.2M help articles, 4300 templates, 150 training courses, 87 homepages, and more • Over 250 writers, editors, site managers, production engineers, localization engineers the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

16. Who uses Office Online? Globally, the majority of Office Online users are from business segments. Source: Office Online worldwide customer satisfaction survey, 2005 the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

17. Continuous publishing on Office Online the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

18. Customer ratings and comments on articles the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

19. Context mismatch: “near miss” • Users often almost find the content they are looking for • Near misses represent one of 5 types of context mismatches, right idea but: • Wrong application/version • Wrong user intent • Wrong user type • Wrong terminology • Wrong language the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

20. Context mismatch: wrong application • A topic may satisfy the user’s intent, but may not match the application about which the user has a question • Scenario: • User searches all Office Online to find “how to make an invitation” • A topic for MS Publisher comes up first, along with some templates in Word • User clicks on first topic, not thinking about the application the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

21. Context mismatch: wrong application • The user does not notice the visual cues about what application the topic applies to • There are no links to find similar content for a different application • The user clicks on “No” and writes a verbatim comment the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

22. Context mismatch: wrong application The writer examines customer verbatim feedback on that topic to dig deeper Many users are not looking for Publisher help the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

23. Context mismatch: wrong application • Possible remedies • Create similar topics for other applications • Create a general “invitation” topic that talks about multiple applications • Create search “best bets” for this query • Include links to similar topics in the “see also” area of the Publisher topic the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

24. Context mismatch: user intent • A topic may look like the answer the user is looking for, but the topic does not satisfy the user’s intent • Symptom: Frequently failed search query “signature” led to deep analysis of existing “signature” topics the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

25. Context mismatch: user intent Scenario • User searches on “digital signature” • User intent: A visual representation of their signature in a document • Top search results: • Digitally sign a file • Insert a picture • Create a signature for messages • User action: Clicks on first result but finds it’s not what they want • Marks the topic as “No” and leaves negative comments the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

26. Context mismatch: user intent Selected verbatim comments reveal some users’ intent the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

27. Context mismatch: user intent Possible remedies • Modify the “insert picture” topic so that it also mentions that inserting a picture can be used for adding a visual signature • Add a link to the “insert picture” topic from the “digital signature” topic the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

28. Context mismatch: user type • One writing style or approach does not work for all users • Office Online serves primarily information workers, but all audiences come to the site • There are different content types for different purposes and learning styles (help topics, training courses, videos, etc.) • Investigate if users might identify themselves in their verbatim comments, and if there is user mismatch happening the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

29. Just a few types of users... access expert administrative assistant amateur aspiring web page designer audio learner baby boomer beginner user big computer freak biochemistry instructor freelance editor gas service engineer genius good VB programmer grandmother graphic artist hair dresser hands on learner disabled user disabled veteran doctor dyslexic experienced user faculty member first time user knuckle head lawyer legal secretary librarian licensed minister luddite Mac person mainframe programmer manual laborer slow learner small business owner social worker software test engineer special education student student system administrator teacher total beginner blind computer user branch chief brand new FrontPage 2003 user brand new user business owner case manager certified applications instructor chef the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

30. Context mismatch: user type Example comments the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

31. Context mismatch: user type • Possible remedies • Consider tagging content by audience type • Have clear destinations for different audiences the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

32. Content-centric design

33. Apples and oranges • When developing content taxonomies, designers create “buckets,” categories to store content • Apples go in the apple bucket, oranges go in the orange bucket • Great! A time and place for everything under heaven the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

34. Bananas • Expect the unexpected • New, unanticipated content types are constantly being generated • We need dynamic site architecture to accommodate dynamic help content the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

35. What are bananas, anyway? If only user assistance content were as orderly… the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

36. Three stages of design philosophy • Rational design (designer centered) • User centered • Content-centric the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

37. Rational design • Designer knows best • Rational, not empirical, design methods • Design optimized for the system rather than the user—usability is secondary • Finite pathways the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

38. User centered design • User is incorporated into the design • Task oriented • Benefits from empirical studies of user behavior • Design for typical users the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

39. Limitations of user centered design • Task or transaction oriented • Assumes finite number of user actions • Doesn’t necessarily account for dynamic content • Employs a top-down approach based on anticipated user behavior the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

40. Content-centric design • The content-centric approach does not imply that UCD is no longer valid • On the contrary, it assumes that user input is invaluable, so much so that content should adapt to user needs dynamically • Web sites are forever changing: new content is being added continuously • Every new piece of content challenges the existing structure—content-centric design is adaptive to users and content the problem | office online |content-centric design | applications | conclusions

41. Applying content-centric design

42. Applying content-centric design • How might content-centric design improve the experience for a user wanting to edit a comment in MS Word? • Relate content and provide context non-hierarchically • Aggregate and incorporate user feedback dynamically • Provide multiple contexts for See Also— “Near misses”—including visual context the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications| conclusions

43. Current UI: hierarchical breadcrumbs • Breadcrumbs give the user context in terms of where they are in the system’s information architecture • But breadcrumbs reflect the designer’s—not the user’s—perspective of the site the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications| conclusions

44. Current UI: hierarchical breadcrumbs Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information > With Other People > Comments Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information > With Other People > Comments Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information > With Other People > Comments Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information > With Other People > Comments Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information > With Other People > Comments Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information > With Other People > Comments Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information > With Other People > Comments • Context provided via typical “breadcrumbs” only shows system’s linear, hierarchical path to the article • Do not show the user’s actual path • In order for users to see where they’ve been, they must use the back button • Users do this because on the Web, as in real life, a sound way to discover where you are is to see where you’ve been the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications| conclusions

45. Pathways users take to article are unique and reflected in UI as My Path User can trace their navigation pattern without using the Back button Content-centric UI: My Path the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications| conclusions

46. My Path: “real” breadcrumbs My Path reflects the user’s actual, non-hierarchical path to the article. My Path: Home > Search All Office Online “edit a comment” > Edit a comment (Excel 2003) > Modify a comment (Word 2003) the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications| conclusions

47. Current UI: Article rating • Users can give input as to whether the article was what they were looking for or not the problem | office online | content-centric design |applications| conclusions

48. Content-centric UI: User suggested articles • Related article suggestions can dynamically populate according to user behavior and feedback the problem | office online | content-centric design |applications| conclusions

49. Current UI: See Also • See Also boxes appear in some articles, providing suggestions for related content the problem | office online | content-centric design |applications| conclusions

50. Content-centric UI: More related content • Two new ways to show related content: • Related Search Results provide limited context through text • A Visual Map can use graphics to help the user visualize how content is related