Examining documentation and help systems since 2002.
Contents
Special Reports
Subscription Feed
Gordon R. Meyer
Copyright 2002-2008
Favorite Sites
Context adds life
Ann Light, writing in Successfully Trained People are Happy, Creative Users for Usability News suggests that we add a new dimension to the conceptual models that underlie technology training. Instead of just teaching how to do something, or how a technology works, help users to tie their knowledge to present, past, and future successes. In other words, users might be more successful if more training (and documentation) included context, actual end-user task focus, and general applicability information.
Light concludes:
"Help systems, documentation and user interfaces should all be planned to think not only about contexts of use, but also contexts of user. Goodness me, is it so hard to suggest that people using technology might also be happy, creative and fulfilled?"
See also Can't see the forest for the trees.
Posted: Friday, February 20, 2004 link to this item, respond to this item