TY - GEN
T1 - Online help
T2 - Proceedings of the 10th Annual International Conference on Systems Documentation - SIGDOC'92
AU - Selfe, Dickie
AU - Selber, Stuart
AU - McGavin, Dan
AU - Johnson-Eilola, Johndan
AU - Brown, Carol
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - We discuss the evolution of online help; book-oriented, exploratory, and constructive. Book oriented online help mirrors paper-based documentation; it is relatively static, linear, and is structured in a manner familiar to most users; but this type of online help is often not efficient at responding to the complex demands of specific users and tasks. Hypertext-based online help-either exploratory or constructive-offers an alternative model addressing some of the limitations of book-oriented online help. Exploratory online help takes advantage of a higher level of interactivity. It is possible to create multiple paths in a document, but it is more complex to navigate (because less familiar to users) than books. Constructive online help represents a higher level of complexity, customization, and interactivity. It can provide a higher level of feedback between users, managers, and developers. It can encourage users to reconceptualize projects and work habits but may require time to construct and gatekeep to avoid cognitive overload.
AB - We discuss the evolution of online help; book-oriented, exploratory, and constructive. Book oriented online help mirrors paper-based documentation; it is relatively static, linear, and is structured in a manner familiar to most users; but this type of online help is often not efficient at responding to the complex demands of specific users and tasks. Hypertext-based online help-either exploratory or constructive-offers an alternative model addressing some of the limitations of book-oriented online help. Exploratory online help takes advantage of a higher level of interactivity. It is possible to create multiple paths in a document, but it is more complex to navigate (because less familiar to users) than books. Constructive online help represents a higher level of complexity, customization, and interactivity. It can provide a higher level of feedback between users, managers, and developers. It can encourage users to reconceptualize projects and work habits but may require time to construct and gatekeep to avoid cognitive overload.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0027806844&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0027806844&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:0027806844
SN - 0897915321
T3 - Proc 10 Annu Int Conf Syst Doc SIGDOC 92
SP - 97
EP - 101
BT - Proc 10 Annu Int Conf Syst Doc SIGDOC 92
A2 - Anon, null
PB - Publ by ACM
Y2 - 13 October 1992 through 16 October 1992
ER -