Current Issues in Assessing and
Improving Documentation Usability
Stephanie Rosenbaum*, Judith Ramey**
- *President
- Tec-Ed Technical Communication and Graphics Services, Inc.
- P.O. Box 1905
- Ann Arbor, MI 48106
- 313-995-1010 voice
- 313-995-1025 fax
- E-mail: stephanie @teced.com
- **Associate Professor
- Department of Technical Communication
- College of Engineering
- University of Washington
- 14 Loew Hall, FH-40
- Seattle, WA 98195
- 206-543-2588 voice
- 206-543-8858 fax
- E-mail: jramey@u.washington.edu
KEYWORDS:
documentation, documentation usability, information development, documentation standards, usability testing, product development
DESCRIPTION OF THE SIG
User documentation, whether in print or "built in" to the online user interface, is now a vital element of successful computer products. Managers and developers recognize that the common model of documentation as remediation for deficient design must not persist, but they often don't know how to build documentation usability into an ongoing product-development effort.
Therefore, this meeting-now in its seventh annual session-is a forum on human factors in computer documentation. With the growth of online user support and the increasing integration of documentation with the user interface, this SIG provides CHI '95 attendees a specific opportunity to discuss recent developments in documentation usability. Topics include:
- Addressing documentation usability early in the product design process
- Qualitative and quantitative methods for collecting documentation usability data
- Roles and relationships among documentation specialists, user-interface designers, and software developers
- Cost-justifying documentation usability programs
The structure of the SIG is informal discussion, moderated by the session leaders. If attendees have additional issues or concerns related to documentation usability, we welcome them.
The first five minutes of the session will be used to create and prioritize a list of specific topics for discussion. We will audiotape the session and make either copies of the tape or meeting notes (depending on volunteers) available to the SIG participants after the conference.
