Google’s latest product, Google Wave, provides a case study in how User Assistance is sometimes provided to users for popular Web-based applications. It is a useful case study, because: The application contains unfamiliar concepts and tasks; Google hopes it will be used by many people; and It’s from a major provider of software. While the… Read more »
Tag: trends
Training course on Twitter and the Social Web: Developing a strategy for technical authors
We’ve just relased a new training course that explains where the Social Web, and Twitter in particular, can fit into the world of the technical author/writer. Originally delivered as a presentation for the prestigious User Assistance Europe Conference 2009, it has been extended and converted into a training course, containing videos and demonstrations of software applications,… Read more »
Can you design your way to a “no user documentation” approach?
Chris Edwards has written an article on product design in the E&T magazine called “The art of avoiding lemons“, in which he looks at whether there is more to product design than simply getting your design to look good or your product to work. He shows there are many situations where brilliantly designed products still… Read more »
Open source survey reveals the value of community-based Help
Actuate’s August 2009 Open Source Survey reported users see community-based Help as one of the key benefits of adopting open source software. The benefits of adoption for the 1,500 respondents were: Community-based Help (33.2%) Access to source code (72.6%) Built on open platforms (63.9%) Scalability (57.2%) Flexibility (54.3%) Not locked into Microsoft (40.9%) Standards-based technology… Read more »
Transatlantic video interview with Anne Gentle on the Social Web for Documentation
We’ve just uploaded a 15 minute extract from a transatlantic video interview I recently conducted with Anne Gentle, where we talked about The Social Web for Documentation. The sound is a little patchy on the first slide, but it improves afterwards. A longer, 37 minute, version will be available to anyone who purchases the Cherryleaf Learning Zone… Read more »