Should we change the structure of user guides to make them more inspiring?

Nancy Duarte presented a talk on the hidden structure that the greatest communicators and persuaders have used over thousands of years: She argues effective presenters move from “What is” to “What Could be” during their speech: The effect is that changes happens – ideas get adopted. It’s easier to see it working in training documentation,… Read more »

The gamification of assistance (aka How to boast about your Help)

Gamification is the integration of game dynamics into any medium such as a Web site, Help file or community, in order to drive a positive response, participation and engagement from a target audience. It’s used by lots of organisations: airlines via Frequent Flyer Programmes, Google via AdWords, as well as more recognisable games software, such… Read more »

Common Sense is not always common

Below are two examples of how knowledge of using technology can be common to only one generation: What are the Windows A: and B: drives used for?

User Assistance: Prevention or cure?

In 2011, will we see a trend towards preventing users getting stuck, rather than curing them after they’ve got stuck? User Interface design is preventative. Support is curative. User documentation is, in most cases, curative. With new technologies for assisting users emerging, Technical Authors may have the opportunity to provide assistance before users get stuck…. Read more »