Re: Research on software help //how to access "off-line"?

About "conceptual" material and technical readers.

While at Sun, I ran many studies over many years looking at how technical readers used/accessed various kinds of documentation. From man pages and online help to "books".

We found that technical readers wanted to be able to read the conceptual material while using and also while "away" from the actual software product. For this reason, Sun press kept publishing "books" that helped with these conceptual topics. [In our studies, participants talked about reading these topics: in bed, in the bath, on the train, on trips, ...]

These studies are old (I left Sun in 1999), but I suspect some of the findings hold true. For example, when planning complex networks, it is likely that IT staff will do a lot of "off-line" research, thinking and planning. Ditto software architects for complex software. 

Smartphones, netbooks, iPod/iPad have probably changed the dynamic somewhat.

Definitely, links IN the product to more in-depth material outside the product is a good idea (required?). 

Next questions:
 - how to access the material when not IN the product?
 - how can users download, print, share that material
 - how can users annotate, note, reformat, extract the material?

Great topic,
Meghan


> 
> On Apr 9, 2011, at 9:08 AM, Fred M Jacobson wrote:
> 
> > Cate-
> > 
> > Meghan mentions that conceptual material is often
> provided as documents
> > instead of online help, but my experience (no "data"
> here) with users (and
> > that of other tech writers I've worked with) is that
> users are task-oriented
> > and many don't read conceptual material in preparation
> for using the
> > software. That argues for linking to the conceptual
> material in the help.
> > 
> > Tech writers now classify topics as concept, task, or
> reference. As others
> > have pointed out, the requirement for extensive task
> documentation can be a
> > sign of an ineffective user interface. But when the
> software is a "toolbox"
> > - like many enterprise products I have documented - it
> is difficult or
> > impossible for the interface to represent all the
> high-level tasks that
> > satisfy user goals. Online help might be a good choice
> for these
> > "meta-procedures," or at least the most common or
> instructive.
> > 
> > You asked about "developers." I'm not sure you if you
> are asking about
> > documentation for developers, but here's a perspective
> on that:
> > Documentation for developers often includes many
> reference topics. Most
> > developers (again, my experience, but no data) expect
> and use effectively
> > online access to this material. For example, a
> programmer using a software
> > development environment expects to access information
> about a library easily
> > from the environment.
> > 
> > -Fred
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