The computer thinks for me?

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Alexander Hompe
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The computer thinks for me?

Unread post by Alexander Hompe »

We have to redesign a very complex application. We want to use new methods for the user interface and a complete new user guidance. Maybe ribbons instead of classic menus etc.

One idea is to give the user some more information what we mean with certain entry fields he has to fill out. Like "Look for images in these folders:" instead of "Image folders:" in the HuM project properties.

In the current application we often have a dialog between the computer and the user: "You have to input some data now" instead of "Input data"

But a new idea is to switch from this kind of dialog to a monolog. The computer and the user 'are the same' and the computer expresses the thoughts of the user: "I have to input some data now"
We hope that the user can better/faster understand the working steps that he wants/has to do. For instance a ribbon item "I want to set evaluation parameters" instead of "Evaluation parameters".

What do you think? Would this be a serious option for you? Could it makes things more simple? How would you feel as a user with such an application?
Maybe one or another has an opinion. I would be glad to read it.

Regards,
Alex
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jlange
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Unread post by jlange »

It depends on your audience: you should ask them, really, not us. As a computer user for 20 years or so, and a technical writer for software programs for 15 years, I'm not a novice, so my comments may not apply to your users.

For what it's worth, my opinion is: unnecessary words are noise and distraction, not a help--they slow me down. I actually prefer the terse commands: "Input data" is better than "I have to input some data now".

I think you need to be careful not to insult your users, unless they really need that kind of hand-holding.

Just my opinion.
Jessica
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John Waller
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Unread post by John Waller »

I agree with Jessica: this question really depends on accurately identifying the needs of the people who will use the application.

As an experienced user, I find verbose, so-called "friendly", labels and instructions get in the way of my productivity. But I'm probably not your target audience for this application.

It sounds as though you are trying to educate users as they are using the application i.e. they do not have an understanding of how the specific screen they are in fits into the overall procedure.

Also, are the prompts you have given as examples e.g. "input data" reflective of the ones you really use? Input data sounds very generic. I prefer specific contextual prompts so I know exactly what is expected of me at any given point in the software.
Regards

John Waller
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

I agree with John and Jessica, it really depends on your target user group. If you are absolutely sure that this application is targeted at users who have almost no experience at all with using a computer they might appreciate it. Otherwise they will probably find it annoying... :)
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Alexander Hompe
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Unread post by Alexander Hompe »

Thank you very much for your opinions. They are much appreciated.

You are right, I have forgotten to write something about our users. But this is not as easy as it could be.

A lot of them can't cope with it. :-( Our current application looks like MS Words or Excel in the beginning: empty. You have to know what you want to do and which menu items you have to click in which order. For a complete program cycle there are many items and buttons to click. There is no assistance here in the moment within the program. The training for our appplication lasts one week, but many people work only every few weeks with it. Then they have forgotten the most and they start from scratch, every time. We know four cases:

1. They read the help file or the printed user guide. Sad but true: This behavior we almost never see.
2. They call the hotline: "What do I have to do?" (Second best way, but very laborious for us)
3. They poke in the menues. Sometimes with success, sometimes without.
4. They give up and say this is a daft program.

Searching the web for software usability sites I often saw sentences like this: "The user must not need a manual, training, hotline or help file. It must be our job to lead him fast and safe to the desired result." Of course I had to take a deep breath when I read this. But finally this seems to be a legitimate request.
And that's why we think about such user guidance as I wrote in my posting. I don't want to kill my job as a technical writer but I want to move the focus of my doing a bit more from the help writing to the user interface. I see this like quality management in a factory. In former times quality management meant that there sat a man at the end of the assembly line and throw away the rejections. This is how my currrent help file is used (if at all): only when there is a problem. Modern quality management has to avoid rejections. And in the same manner I want to avoid problems for our users by lead them through the program.

But on the other hand we have power users who work the whole day with our program and they are really fit. They work very creative and use the program even for questions we never thought that it is possible. Probably you are right and they would dislike a verbose user assistance.

We have to serve both types of users. But I don't like classic wizards with many dialogs and "Next" buttons. A wizard every time is a parallel way and users which use it will seldom switch to the straight way. But I want them to see all input fields and options at a glance. Often there are some interesting options that are never shown in a wizard. I want the users to get an idea of the whole thing. I want them to know what they are doing and why.

I thought it could be possible to strike a balance between these classic ways - with advantages for all types of users. We are in the very beginning of redesign. I am in search.


You recommended to ask the users. We made bad experiences with such interviews. Ask two persons and you will get three answers ...

John, my prompt examples were just examples to show the difference between the pure form and the verbose form. Never fear, our users will never see "You have to input some data now"! ;-)

Regards,
Alex
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jlange
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Unread post by jlange »

I'm not sure I agree with you about using wizards to guide novice users through a task: it seems like a good solution, if you allow experts to bypass the wizards. You say:
I want them to see all input fields and options at a glance. Often there are some interesting options that are never shown in a wizard.
But presenting too many choices can be confusing & intimidating to the novice user. I think some users really don't want extra options---I often get MS Word documents from people who would rather hit the Tab key multiple times than learn how to set a tab or use a table.
Sounds like your primary objective for novice users is to help them successfully complete an occasional task without having to learn anything, and without thinking the software is daft. If Wizards aren't the right answer, maybe some written "How To" guides for the major tasks that takes them step by step through the task would be helpful.

Good luck.
Jessica
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Dean Whitlock
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Unread post by Dean Whitlock »

Two thoughts:

If you identify steps and dialogs with clear titles, you can help the newbies, but if you make the titles too wordy, everyone feels talked down to. It's a balancing act, but I think there is a reasonable middle ground.

Wizards can be very helpful to new users, but you have to make sure the power users know how to switch to power mode. At startup, you could display a dialog asking the users if they are ready to switch to power mode. If they say yes, they'll never see the wizards -- or the start-up prompt -- again, unless they go to the preferences window and manually switch back to wizard mode. (You can mention the wizard preference in that start-up dialog so that users will have some vague notion that it's there.)

Good luck,
Dean
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Alexander Hompe
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Unread post by Alexander Hompe »

Thanks for your thoughts.

Maybe you are right and we should take the classic way: menus/dialogs or ribbons for power users and wizards for the newbies.

The "friendly" labels ... I think we have to think twice about it. Probably only in wizard mode.

A further quick idea for dialogs in which the user has to do many steps: The dialogs appear as usual and the user can select a special wizard mode for this dialog by pressing a "Wizard" button. In this mode the user will be guided through the "corners" of the dialog. We could highlight the first "corner" or gray-out all others and show in a attached window nice verbose help text, what to do in this highlighted "corner". When the user presses a "Next" button the second "corner" will be highlighted and a new text appears etc. It would work like a real wizard but within a normal dialog interface. I think there could be advantages against context sensitive ?-help. We can show the user the right way through the dialog and can by-pass the power user's options (which are auto-filled with common values of course).

Re-designing a complex program is a very exciting thing! ;-)

Regards,
Alex
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Dean Whitlock
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Unread post by Dean Whitlock »

The "Corners" concept is very interesting. An advantage is that it would train the newbies in the context of the normal dialog, helping to wean them from the Wizard mode more quickly. A disadvantage might be that the other corners being visible would prove distracting. Having them distinctly grayed out, along with a clear instruction to complete the highlighted section first, would probably solve that minor problem.

-Dean
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