The new face of procedural content: a real world approach

This paper describes a large-scale project to improve the effectiveness of knowledge base (KB) articles on a support website in solving problems experienced by novice to intermediate computer users. The project encompasses the structure of the content, the quality of the writing and graphics, and the user interface presentation. In addition, we are developing guidelines intended for the designers and writers of new KB articles. We leveraged product knowledge, research findings, and extensive experience in user support to develop and empirically test three prototypes. Preliminary test results show improved solve rates ranging from 17% to 26%, with still better results from pilot content currently released to the public.

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