Usability issues of Q&A format for web content?

The design team at a client of ours has asked us to contribute to an
internal design discussion.
 
The issue is whether a "Question and Answer" format (E.g. "How do I...?",
"Am I eligible for...?" etc), as used in FAQs, should be generalized to
content throughout the site. We have opinions, but we're finding it hard to
bring in data or 'best practices', beyond Jakob Nielsen's "Infrequently
asked questions" (No. 7, Top 10 design mistakes, 2002
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20021223.html).
 
We're going to highlight the issues, ranging from perceptual (e.g.
scannability of Q&A format vs other forms) to goal-oriented (e.g. guidance
on providing affordances and information at the point of need to reduce need
for FAQs), but would welcome more solid evidence than we can provide at the
moment!
 
I can summarize replies.
Thanks.
Mike Atyeo
Strategic Design
Tel: (613) 599-7470
Cell: (613) 868-4958
 <http://www.neoinsight.com/> http://www.neoinsight.com

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