{"id":2894,"date":"2011-06-06T09:26:16","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T09:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cherryleaf.com\/blog\/?p=2894"},"modified":"2011-06-06T09:26:16","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T09:26:16","slug":"help-is-broken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cherryleaf.com\/2011\/06\/help-is-broken\/","title":{"rendered":"Help is broken?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are we at the point when we need to acknowledge that classic online Help files are not working as well as they should – that is, as the primary source of information to assist users when they get stuck?<\/p>\n

This is not a Don Draper “why I’m quitting tobacco<\/a>” moment, and this is not a criticism of the Help Authoring Tool vendors. Instead, it’s a proposal that, in some situations, what is delivered as online Help needs to be substantially modified to meet the needs of many modern technologies and users.<\/p>\n

What’s wrong with Help? Help is often a “walled garden” in an Internet-era built on knowledge sharing and collaboration. Usability in relation to the user interface can be poor at times. It’s hard to measure its value and the ROI. Even its purpose can be vague to some project managers. Unfortunately, there’s often just not enough time to make significant improvements. We could go on.<\/p>\n

Many users still get stuck, and many products still fail to work when they’re linked to another. Words still are a key way of communicating and teaching users. We still need to assist users and we still need some form of Help. It could be a useful tool in “evangelism marketing”. It could do so much more. This is why we’re suggesting it’s time to take a strategic look at what and how we can provide Help for when users get stuck.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are we at the point when we need to acknowledge that classic online Help files are not working as well as they should – that is, as the primary source of information to assist users when they get stuck? 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