Chapter Meeting Information

Date

Speaker

Topic

November 2

Linda Urban, Consultant

Integrating User Assistance
Into the User Interface of a Web Application: A Case Study

Let's face it, for the most part, users
do not want to use Help systems,
and all too often, they don't. It is a challenge to figure out how to integrate supporting information into a product
in a way that encourages users to
actually make use of it.

This program presents a case study where adoption of a Web-based application depends on users' early success in using it, and on their perception that the product is easy
to use and learn. Providing user assistance in a format that people
will actually use is critical to the success of the product.

Fortunately, the product designers
and developers are fully behind the concept of integrating user assistance into the user interface, so the hurdle
of getting screen real-estate has
already been addressed. But that is
only the beginning. The next challenge is figuring out exactly what information
to integrate. Screen real estate is limited, so how do you make sure
you add the right text? When a goal
is to provide answers to users' questions at the point at which they have them, how do you select what links to provide? What if you are aware of 20 questions that users may have on a given screen, at different points in their work process? Or different topics that are important
to different users?

Linda discusses how these and other questions and issues are being addressed on this project. She summarizes the techniques and activities that proved most useful
in defining and developing the content, and discusses how she and the developers are:

• Determining what links to put on the   page
• Layering information to provide more   when users are ready for it
• Using help topics as active job aids
   that can drive the application
• Deciding what to leave out

Linda Urban has over 20 years experience in technical communication, and 15 years experience creating online Help. As a consultant, Linda works on product usability, user interface design, Help systems, software and hardware documentation, and web-based information. She focuses on developing solutions that meet user needs and company goals, and her work has received local and international STC awards. She also teaches courses in technical communication at the UC Berkeley Extension and UC Santa Cruz Extension.

December 7

Mike Hamilton,
MadCap Software

MadCap Flare and the RoboHelp Saga

Mike Hamilton, who spent many years working on RoboHelp, will tell us about its tortured path from Blue Sky to eHelp to Macromedia to Adobe. By providing dates and details, Mike hopes to put various rumors to rest and ensure that we all have a clear idea how RoboHelp got where it is today.

MadCap is a software company started by former RoboHelp developers. Their XML-based help authoring product, Flare, looks nothing like RoboHelp, but the two products may be destined to compete for the same customers. Mike will give us a demonstration of Flare.

Mike Hamilton is Vice President of Product Management at MadCap Software, where he is working on Flare. Before joining MadCap, he served as product manager for the RoboHelp product line from 1997, when he joined eHelp, right through the Macromedia days.

Mike has over 15 years of experience in training, technical communication, multimedia development, and software development at several organizations, including Macromedia, eHelp/Blue Sky Software, Cymer, National Steel and Shipbuilding, and the US Navy.