A Methodology for Evaluating Tutorials for Computer Application Software

Potential users must learn how to use a computer application tool, or software, in order for the tool to be successfully introduced. Usually the instructions on how to operate the tool are located in a tutorial, which the user must access. Since computer tools are often "personalized" to a specific market, the tutorialfor one tool may not be appropriate for all. In other words, tutorials need to be "personalized" to a specific computer tool. Implicit in the above statement is the assumption that candidate tutorials should be evaluated to determine which is the bestfor a specific tool. This paper reports on a methodology that allows convenient evaluation of candidate tutorials by using the criterion of increased willingness on the part of potential users to use the toolfor problem solving. Therefore, the methodology also addresses the problem of unused computer tools.