Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Assistance (was Get started tutorials)

[Tim KG]

I am still a university student, coming from the more technical
Management Information Systems field. During my studies we learned
about what can be considered the predecessor to IxD: "traditional"
Human Computer Interaction, with its roots in Computer and Cognitive
Science.
The more I read and learn about IxD, by reading books, blogs and
following discussion among experts like here at IxDA, it seems to me
more and more that IxD is actually nothing more than HCI reinvented
by designers.
I don't want to reduce the value of IxD practicioners with a
background in (visual) design, since proper design thinking and a
"designer's eye" are crucial to create the engaging and pleasent
interfaces that we have come to love nowadays. *But* it seems to me
that almost all theoretical and practical considerations that are not
directly related to visual design have been approached decades before
by HCI practicioners.
I may be completely wrong - still no practical work experience - but
if even the pro's like Jared Spool here say it...
Maybe the fragmentation of labels/terms under which the different
specialized fields were known is a reason for their contribution been
"forgotten". I personally had no idea that there is actually a
special term for "User Assistence", and probably many others had no
idea also. A lot of the really groundbraking work for HCI was done
under the term "Human  Factors" or "Software Ergonomics", and
about Navigation under "Information Retrieval", just to state some
other examples.
If there is no authorative list stating the names under which
research relating to HCI / IxD has been done, and what each area was
concerned with, it is very difficult for new practicioners to
actually find something that has already been done. Maybe if such a
list would be created, it would help people to find such
"forgotten" wisdom.


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[IxDA Discuss] User Assistance (was Get started tutorials)

[Jared Spool]

On Jun 8, 2009, at 1:46 AM, Ted Kilian wrote:

I am looking for good examples of get started tutorials - by which I  
mean
the optional tooltips that guide you through an online application  
for the
first time. I have seen this most often in games, but I know I have  
run
across it in websites as well.  We are proposing to replace existing  
video

tutorials with this approach and I am looking for examples, studies or
opinions that support or refute this decision.

My sense is that the future of help for new users is to provide  
these sorts
of optional, in-context tools rather than create and maintain a  
separate
training video or tutorial.  Rather than leave the functional flow  
to learn
how to use something, this approach walks users through the process  
so that
they are using while they are learning. It also means if the  
application is
changed, all that is required is the additional in-context elements,  
rather
than redesigning and producing a new video, which can become  
relatively

expensive and complex.


[Not answering Ted's question, but instead talking about a bigger  
problem that I think IxDs are struggling with.]


So, this is the third request in as many months for a basic  
introduction to user assistance.


User assistance (http://is.gd/T98M) is a branch of online design that  
has been worked on by really smart people for more than 30 years,  
going back to the early work by Jack Carroll (http://is.gd/T9jA, known  
for his work on minimalism) and others.


There's even an excellent annual conference on the topic (http://is.gd/T9bu 
 - note: I was the closing keynote this year and have presented at  
many of them before).


Every question that's been asked to this list about tutorials, demos,  
tooltips, and online assistance has been answered many times before by  
the UA community.


I realize that IxD is a new field, but how do we integrate the  
excellent work that's been done before instead of trying to reinvent  
it? Sounds like a good design problem to me!


Jared

Jared M. Spool
User Interface Engineering
510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845
e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561
http://uie.com  Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks  Twitter: @jmspool
UIE Roadshow: Seattle, Denver, DC in June: http://is.gd/gxwe



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