Thanks!!! your response was very helpful. On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 6:33 AM, Petteri Hiisila <[email protected]> wrote:
> Welcome to the list! > > Diego -- you have to spend your time designing the application itself, not > a help system for it. It sounds like the client doesn't trust you enough > right now, and you need to sharpen your own tools also. You must find a way > to dedicate most of your time to make those appointments easy, and god > forbid, safe. > > If I were in your shoes: > > Tomorrow, ask the client if he/she could delay the decision until you have > presented the actual design. Then you can both decide what kind of help & > training will be necessary as a whole. Don't push such design decision so > early. Your instinct is right, but your timing isn't. Take a step back and > build a better base. > > (Some online help is often necessary, but only experts tend to read it - > beginners just hop in or expect personal training, especially in a special > domain like yours. This might become handy: > http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/11/29/497861.aspx) > Ey, thanks for the link, my argument was the same :) (is nice to have references to back it) I also found this paper that can be helpful: How usability testing can aid the development of online documentation http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=97426.97991 > > Next, follow a process that helps you research the domain, do the design, > build rock-solid argumentation around it. Don't take shortcuts of jump into > conclusions. Every now and then, present the good stuff to the client and > you'll build trust, step by step. > > > Finally, when you can present full scenarios for your client, you should > both notice that online help wasn't such an issue to begin with. Scenario > Walkthroughs will be your best friend when proving that a feature is > unnecessary. > > This book: Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered > Products and Services by Kim Goodwin > Permalink: http://amzn.com/0470229101 > Again, thanks a lot! As a conclusion from your mail and the one from Ali, I known that more research is needed mainly to known if online help is needed or not (and where is needed), and to research better options that help users to reach their goals. Diego ________________________________________________________________ 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
