I'm a Voice User Interface (VUI) Designer at Nuance Communications. I too have heard it bandied about that users don't use Help. You'll sometimes hear that almost no one asks for it. Usually the percentages are more than almost zero though, say from 1-3%.
However, I've also seen applications where people are asking for Help much more than that, going from 5% to 15% usage. In fact, in one application, they were asking for Help around 40% of the time. Why the discrepancy? In the case of low Help usage, people don't know that Help exists. It's often not advertised (real estate is quite small in a non-persistent UI). And if it is advertised, it might only be introduced once interaction has gotten quite bad. In fact, there's a trend among some VUI designers to not design Help messages any longer, instead depending on error handling to get people out of difficulties. They might advertise Help in only certain contexts where they think it might be needed. In those applications where Help usage is higher, it's because it's advertised more frequently. But usage varies depending on the domain, who the users are, and other contextual factors. I personally think it's a good idea to advertise it consistently. And in the case where people are highly distracted, I think it's essential. People are not always listening. If they learn that there is something that can help them get re-oriented and that will let them know what is needed to complete a task and achieve their goal, they will use it when they need it. One other thing. You probably already know this, but just in case, in a speech UI, it's not a good idea to advertise Help as "Help." I%u2019ve heard "More info" used, or the longer "More information." Though you may find something better suited to your situation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=41773 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
