Revamping the help system

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

On Jun 26, 2006, at 1:18 AM, Matthew East wrote:
> ...
> * Matthew Paul Thomas:
> ...
>> Unfortunately most people won't read through a long list of 
>> categories when they can search instead (and by Edgy they will be 
>> able to search and get pretty decent results), so the list of topics 
>> will need to be very short and scannable to be useful.
>
> Personally I don't think that follows. Having a good search is a big
> plus, but that's a separate feature to having a good front page. Many
> users will go straight to the search and won't look at the front page,
> many users will avoid the search and use the front page to browse.

Arrr, now you're sending me off to find references again:
*   "We did a usability study once and found that almost no one uses
     the table of contents to find what they’re looking for in the
     docs. Unfortunately, this is one of the BEST ways to find things."
     <http://blogs.msdn.com/vstsue/archive/2005/05/24/421546.aspx>
*   "The Table of Contents is great for reference type Help, but
     usability tests show that it's not used in user assistance."
     <http://codeproject.com/dotnet/LHChangesUA1.asp#TOC_Index_Search>

So, given that "almost no one" uses the table of contents, how should 
the table of contents be targeted? Should it be a thorough listing of 
topics (like the wiki front page), for the handful of people who are 
willing to browse? I think it can be more helpful to more people by 
trying to save time for a chunk of the people who were on their way to 
the search -- presenting a small number of easily scannable categories, 
preceded perhaps by the three or four most commonly asked questions.

> ...
>> Preliminary diff attached, though
>> it's just a start.
>
> I've added this as index-mpt.xml so that we can continue brainstorming.
> ...

Thanks!

-- 
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/