STC Usability SIG Newsletter
Online Help: Too Much of a Good Thing?

by Avi Parush and Debi Kaporovsky Parush

Online help was originally thought of as an independent support system. It allows the user to access information easily and immediately, whenever it is needed. As such, it was thought to be the most often used support system on a user’s computer.

However, from a number of sources, we have learned that online help is used less frequently than we originally thought. Usability tests, especially on web applications, often show that users do not use the online help; or if they do, they do not find the required information. Field engineers and customer support representatives often report that they need to explain information that is documented in the help because users do not use it. To provide more effective assistance, we must answer the question: "Why is online help not used?"

Is it because of poor user interface design? Poor usability? That is: Are users unaware that there is a help system? Is the term "Help" discouraging to use? Does it take too long to access?

Is it because the help is designed poorly in terms of content and structure? That is: Once users request help, are they getting the information they need, designed in a format they can use? Are users expecting one kind of information and getting something different?

Is it because users are smarter these days and need less online help?

Our position is that users do not need every possible procedure in the online help. Furthermore, placing all procedures within the online help may potentially reduce its usability. Consequently, a new approach to the design of online help should be adopted that includes the information the user may really need. We suggest that such information is associated with usability problems of the system and that usability tests can identify the critically needed information. This information can then be implemented in a way that reflects the severity of the problem.

Online Help can be Helpful

In our research, the systems included online help that was designed and implemented using the traditional approach. The findings indicated very little use of the online help as it was implemented. The process we followed started with a laboratory usability test of a prototype of the application. The main data collection approach used was the Think Aloud Protocol and post-test evaluation questionnaires.

The following usability problems were found to be the most severe:

• Not knowing how to begin interacting with the application.
• Misunderstanding the meaning and implications of pushing certain buttons.
• Not knowing what else can be done with the system.
• Difficulties in finding information using the online help.

We solved the first two usability problems using embedded support that was integrated into the interface. We offered frequently asked questions in addition to a more comprehensive Help system to expose the users to additional features and then explain how to do them.

Embedded Support

For the most critical usability problems, primarily those that are associated with conceptual issues, we embedded support into the user interface itself. It explained:

• How to begin interacting: On the first screen that is displayed when opening the system for the first time, the user is told what they can do and how to proceed.
• What the buttons mean: Instead of a one-word definition of each icon, we used tool tips to provide meaningful explanations of what each button would do or mean if pressed.

Help from the Help Menu

For the less critical problems we implemented help as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) within the Help menu in such a way that the user could access them immediately without having to browse through a cluttered table of contents. It provided questions that users didn’t even know how to ask:

Each major feature that the system offered was translated into a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ). We recommended that the most frequently asked FAQs appear directly in the Help menu and the others be accessed from a list of FAQs.

Retesting the Online Help

After our implementations, we retested the online help. For many of the usability problems identified in the original tests, confusion was replaced by understanding. In some cases, the second usability test also provided additional insight as to precisely what kind of information the users needed. These observations were used to further improve the help contents. Ideally, a third usability test would have confirmed the effectiveness of these improvements, but this retest was not possible in the project scope.

Summary

We assume that users do not need all the information that is traditionally crammed into online help. Indeed, this amount of information may even be one of the causes of reduced use of the help system. Our approach can reduce the amount of information the user has to cope with when browsing the help mechanism. Furthermore, it can provide significant criteria for organizing the help system, for example, according to FAQs.