 
Just in Time
Online Help
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It is our belief that when ever someone presses the F1 or Help button they are looking for some information. This is training. This is a different philosophy than most online help developers and it is the key to our successful Help systems.
The most common argument against builing good online help is, "No one ever uses it." And after reviewing many help systems the response is, "Because it is a piece of doo-doo!" Below is a comparison of how the Guild compares to the norm.
Their Problem with Online Help
In a nutshell, most online help systems suffer from a majority of the following symptoms:
- Incomplete
- Written by programmers
- One dimentional
- Boring
- "What" rarely "why" info
- Unattractive
The solution is that the end user ends up inefficient, frustrated and either doesn't use your system or phones for expensive help desk support. We have a solution - check out how we address the above issues using Blue Sky's RoboHelp Help authoring tool:
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"Their" Problems vs. The Guild's Solution
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1. Incomplete
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vs. All inclusive
- field level help,
- panel level help,
- glossaries,
- indicies,
- illustrations,
- cross references,
- graphics,
- hotspots...
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| 2. Authored by Programmers |
vs. Written by a trainer
- Focused on writing help, not code
- clear, concise language
- NO jargon, NO acronyms, NO assumptions
Our background is in psychology not programming. Throw in a sense of humour tutored by Monty Python and your help will have satisfied customers.
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| 3. One dimensional |
vs. Multimedia
- utilizing colour
- graphics
- illustrations
- audio: sound/voice
- screen cam videos...
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| 4. Boring |
vs. Interesting
Graphic hotspots, - adds interactivity and graphics
white space & colour add to positive experiences
Additional interactivity
- use of multiple windows
- pop-up definitions
- pop-up illustrations
- concise text
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| 5. "What?" Help |
vs. Who, What, When, Where, Why & How
A key difference to our help is explaining the other questions - Why use this feature, how to use it, shortcomings, advantages, and when to use it. For example, a simple Name field,
their way:
Name
"Enter the clients name here." |
Then there is our way:
| Name |
You must enter the client's first name, initials (optional) and surname.
This information will be used:
- as a header on all reports
- on envelopes and labels during mail merge
- during searches
Therefore, make sure the names are entered correctly. No one likes their name mispelled!
Related Topics:
How to Change Names
Customizing Report Names
Printing labels | |
| 6. Unattractive |
vs. Eye appealing
While this may appear as a "no brainer" it is a key differnce of our systems. It is not simply graphics for graphics sake, it is integrating information in a graphical manner to appeal to the reader.
Most people will ignore help saying it is useless and a waste of time. Based on the way most people write help we would agree. But we are different.
By taking the time to get the right information in the help, making it easy to navigate and incorporating some "eye candy" your end users will utilize online help more often and help desk support less. Now, who wants to save money?
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Want to learn how to build your own Help?
The Guild's trainer will have you or your staff building a help system in the first training session. The key is the 4 two hour sessions. Learning the basics and building on them over time has been our proven formula.
Not only do you get an inhouse expert, wait till you see the employee's attitude. Creating online systems has enriched every one of my students to a level you would not have anticipated. It is almost addictive!
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