modern online help
DESCRIPTION
Good help increases the satisfaction users have with your product and reduces support cases. As good as your help writers are however, you also need to consider how good you are at delivering help as part of your product experience. Now is a good time to evaluate your products help system and see how good it is at delivering on the expectations of a modern web experience.TRANSCRIPT
Modernizing your Online HelpJosh LanninProduct Managerhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlannin
Modern Online Help
Contemporary web technologies have transformed online products– but has your online help caught up? How you deliver help as part of your product can be as important as how well it is written.
Online Help Circa 2005 Online Help Circa 2013
Let’s review the best of breed features found in modern online help
Concept• Provide the ability to read and navigate
help while simultaneously using the product without switching between browser windows
Project Elements• Provide infrastructure to view
embedded into the product UX, as well as through a full screen help center experience
• Deliver help in multiple formats using adaptive UX techniques
Simultaneously Use Online Help and Your Product
Example: Facebook.com help
Concept• Facilitate discovery of help
content
Project Elements• Build UX and infrastructure to
support incremental search capabilities on the help content
Provide Incremental Search of Help
Example: Salesforce.com help
Concept• Deliver help for mobile and
tablet user experiences
Project Elements• Can be specific to mobile or
tablet applications, or simply provide the ability to easily read the documentation from these devices on their browsers
Provide Mobile and Tablet Help
Example: Google + help
Concept• Reduce documentation complexity and
facilitate faster resolution of user questions by building links between help and your product
Project Elements• Requires the ability to have URLs in the
product which can be mapped to sections of help
• When the product URL changes on a per-user or per-tenant basis, requires the help system to be able to map to those correct URLs
Build Links Between Documentation and Product UX
Example: Facebook.com help
Concept• Enable links to help based on
the context of the user in the product
Project Elements• Requires the ability to have
URLs in the documentation which can be mapped to sections of the product
Build Links Between Product UX and Documentation
Example: Drupal help
Concept• Provide engagement and
feedback on help
Project Elements• Enable users to mark content as
helpful (or not)• Enable help to be perma-linked
in the browser for future access or sharing with others
Actionable Help
Example: dropbox.com help
Concept• When using videos as part of
help, provide the ability to play them inline the containing page
Project Elements• Enable integrated video playback
using modern video embedding techniques• Eliminate pop-ups and new
browser windows to view videos
Embedded Video Playback
Example: evernote.com help
“Embedded user assistance relieves this pain point by delivering the information users need when and where they need it. Users no longer need to search for the information they need, and they often don’t even realize they are reading help… Embedded user assistance is only part of a complete documentation plan. It does not replace the need for other types of content. For example, embedded user assistance is not a good delivery mechanism for comprehensive concepts and detailed discussions of a topic with strategy and best practice guidelines.”
http://www.useraid.com/blog/2009/05/12/embedded-user-assistance/
But Wait--- Is Documentation Even Necessary in a World of Intuitive Products with Embedded User Assistance?
Concept• Embedded user assistance includes
information to help users master a product as an integrated part of their user experience
Project Elements• Ranges from context specific tips, to guided
tasks, to fully gamified user experiences
• Knows what the user hasn’t done before and introduces new features to them
• Can be more expensive to deliver and requires close coordination between development and documentation teams
Embedded User Assistance
Example: Google+ user assistance
Good help increases the satisfaction users have with your product and reduces support cases. As good as your help writers are however, you also need to consider how good you are at delivering help as part of your product experience. Now is a good time to evaluate your products help system and see how good it is at delivering on the expectations of a modern web experience.
It’s Time to Upgrade Your Help