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Z E N and the Art of Online Help

Learn the Zen approach to technical writing - understand users, organize information, determine delivery methods, and master formatting. Enhance your skills with real-world examples and expert advice.

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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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