After reading this week’s assignments, I have learned about the different usability tests. For my instructions assignment it seems that the document markup will aid me the most in creating effective instructions. While my instructions might work well with more advanced audiences, this test will ensure that my novice audience will also be catered to.
One of the biggest challenges that I will face writing these instructions, will be thinking of what the novice users know and don’t know. Since I am very familiar with wireless access points, I tend to use the jargon associated with them, assuming people know what I am talking about. Doing this in my instruction would be extremely detrimental to creating effective instructions. Reading unexplained jargon would most likely create unneeded confusion for my novice audience.
The document markup should help me eliminate this problem. This testing will allow my testers to show me points where they became confused In order to increase the effectiveness of this usability test, I will try to find testers who have a limited technological background. In doing so, it will help ensure that I did not use any unexplained technological jargon. This usability test will also allow me to find out if my graphics aid in instructing my audience. In the past I have used several sets of instructions where the graphics only make things more confusing. Hopefully with this test, my testers will be able to tell me if the graphics helped simplify the process. Another benefit of this test will be to make sure that the steps flow in a logical manner. Sometimes while writing out instructions, they seem to flow in a logical manner to me but others become confused while reading over them. This test will help me determine whether or not I need to change the flow of my instructions.
I understand what you mean
I understand what you mean about it being difficult to consider your instructions from a novice’s point of view; I am in a similar predicament with my instruction set. I have also decided that the document markup test will be a good way to identify possible issues throughout my instructions. As you have stated, I also hope that this document markup test will also identify whether or not our graphics are being utilized properly. I know one of my main goals for this test is to let me know whether or not the reader can easily find a graphic that is being mentioned and then return back to the appropriate portion of the text without any confusion.
Thanks!
Jason Flittner
www.JFlitt.com
Unlearning R9
I agree with you both that putting yourself in a novice’s shoes when you are an expert will be the hardest part of this project. However I don’t think my problem is that I will use too much technical jargon or leave out information that a novice might need. I am wearier that I will over think the process and break down the steps too far so that even a novice might end up thinking there is too much fluff. For instance, some novices would know how to start up Internet Explorer and some would not. It is probably better to include a step if you have this sort of question. It seems to me like another one of those fine lines that we have to walk.
Shane
Good point
You make a good point about breaking down the steps too far. I'm not sure I will tell someone how to start the program, because I think if someone is setting out to use desktop publishing software on a computer, they will already know how to start a computer program. I suppose this all relates back to analyzing your audience and its needs. I could see how someone who might want to do something simple on the computer might not know how to start Internet Explorer, but other programs are more advanced computer programs that someone who doesn't know how to use a computer would never attempt to use.
Kristin
Fourthly...
I also had the same problem as all of you, when I started to make my beginner instructions it was hard for me to think of all the steps that I normally just blow by when starting my process. The hardest part for me was thinking about all the steps that I think are simple and easy, but to a beginner/first time user those steps might be the ones that they are missing and will need the most. One of the hardest parts of making your instructions will be to decide who your audience is, like Kristen stated, because you should tailor your instructions to fit the type of people who will actually be using them and not to anyone else.
A New Problem
Your post brought it to my attention that too much focus on explaining my setup process could create the opposite problem, treating the user as an idiot. I will have to be very careful to ensure that I do not do this. Like just about every other assignment that we have had in this class, I will need to find a balance. I will need to make sure that I explain complicated material but at the same time I will have to make sure that I am not going into too much detail about things the reader already knows about.
Making things easy to skip
I think its important to take into account all ends of your audience. You'd be surprised at how naive some novice users may be. For example, consider some of our parents, I for one can say honestly my own mother (love you mom no offense meant here) would possibly have trouble understanding some very simplistic technical instructions. Not sure if anyone can relate to this, but I really think you shouldn't skip over these users. What would be better is to write in an easily navigable manner where a user can skip over a step and move on if they find it to be prior knowledge. I don't think this is too challenging. just properly label each step and make them flow in a logical order.
Blue E
My documentation will also have a problem with jargon when I am writing to a novice user. A good way to describe buttons or locations is to describe them. Telling the user to open up Internet Explorer can seem like a basic task but to the basic user it can be confusing. Telling them to click “The Blue E” can be a lot easier to understand for the novice user. I am also going to use the usability test by getting one of my friends to test it out for himself. Hopefully he will give me valuable feedback so I can improve my documentation even further.
Too simple?
This is an interesting question. How detailed is too detailed when dealing with online instructions. To me, it is not too much to ask even a novice user to open internet explorer. Maybe a way to convey this step to them is to say within your first step that, "within Internet Explorer..." this way you are telling them where to go on any PC, but you don't have to waste space by making it your first instruction. This could be different for expert users. I would think that if you said within your expert instrucitons to, "go to www...." they would understand that. This user may actually use a different internet browzer, so telling them to click on the "blue E" may actually confuse them.
Mike Sheridan
Reduce Search
The “Blue E” approach may work for a user who has Internet Explorer on their desktop but may cause problems for the novice user who doesn’t. I think it partly depends on how novice your novice user really is too. Don’t forget to include where to find the icon. Some novice users may have an easier time with something like “Navigate to Start then All Programs then Internet Explorer”. Describing the icon that the user is looking for may cut down on the time it takes them to find it though.
-Chris