What help do users need?: taxonomies for on-line information needs & access methods

The feasibility of using a general on-line help taxonomy scheme as the starting point for our interactive graphical applications' on-line help specifications was investigated. We assumed that using such a taxonomy would make it easier for users of the help system, regardless of the application used. The literature, software conferences, trade shows, and the like point to enormous differences of opinion about what help even IS, much less how it should be designed, accessed, displayed, stored, or maintained. While much research described sound design principles and access methods, very little was available on WHAT to organize or access. Our effort on defining a taxonomy for online help was based upon three tests: • Testl, a Wizard-of-Oz usability study of an application that identified what types of on-line help our interactive software users actually ask for; .Test2, a test that validated a general taxonomy for online help content for help providers, based on the results of Testl, and a general taxonomy of access methods derived from these content types; and • Test3, a repeat of Test!, substituting a prototype help system for Wizard-of-Oz help that successfully validated the usability of both on-line help content and access taxonomies for help users. This paper summarizes the results of all three tests, highlighting the proposed taxonomies and key findings about them from Test2. Together, the results from all tests indicate that a general taxonomy of information needs and the taxonomy of access methods to particular information types make it easy both for help providers to understand what information they need to supply and for help users to find the help they need quickly.