A proposal for user centered system documentation

O'Malley, C.; Smolensky, P.; Bannon, L.; Conway, E.; Graham, J.; Sokolov, J.; Monty, M.L.

Abstract

This paper outlines a set of proposals for the development of system documentation based on an analysis of user needs. It is suggested that existing documentation is not sensitive enough to the variety of levels of user expertise, nor to the variety of contexts in which on-line help is required. We outline three specific proposals for fulfilling these needs: a quick reference facility, a command-line database, and a facility for full explanation and instruction, and suggest a number of ways in which users might access these facilities. Finally, we suggest a way of combining these facilities into an integrated structured manual, offering more effective user support than is currently provided.

Citation

O'Malley, C., Smolensky, P., Bannon, L., Conway, E., Graham, J., Sokolov, J., & Monty, M. (1983). A proposal for user centered system documentation. In CHI '83 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (282-285). https://doi.org/10.1145/800045.801627

• Conference Name: 1983 SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 1983; Boston; United States
• Publication Date: 1983
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2018
• Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Pages: 282-285
• Book Title: CHI '83 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/800045.801627