| It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it. Ultimately, the design document is the common reference point for everyone on the team: technical developers, managers, artists, marketers. Like "ease of use", everyone recognizes the value of documentation, but very few actually support it completely. Documentation |
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Good Documentation is not an Assumption |
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| A lot of times we assume that marketers, coders and project managers will each provide meaningful documentation of their work and share it with others. And that's great if it happens - but sometimes it doesn't. Remember the story of the seven blind men and the elephant? Each blind man accurately describes the part that he touches ("An elephant is like ... a wall ... a hose ... a tree ... a sheet ... a whip ..."), but none describes it totally. Many development teams work like that. Each member can describe what they experience, but is there a common vision? |
Effective Writing Like all the other skills on the design team, It's not just a hobby - It's a job description. |
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| In the Team Working Environment - Shared Reality is a Necessity. | ||
Being Helpful |
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The best way to serve your customer is to design a site that's intuitively obvious, appropriate in its complexity, and easy on the eye. Beyond that, embedded "online help" features are also important, especially since they're so hard to do well.
Aside from good basic design, there are several simple things we can do to make the "customer experience" better at the level of screen design. |
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| Context-Sensitive Popups | This "just in time" info is the main source of useful help. These are small information boxes that popup when the mouse hovers over something. | |
| On-Screen Directions | Call it an Introduction, a Summary, an Overview, whatever: Well-written (concise and clear) on-screen text tells me Where I am, What I can do, and How I can get there. | |
| Mini-Presentations | Don't just talk about it - "Show Me". Target the 3-to-5 most important tasks and demonstrate them on-screen. The extra effort will be well-rewarded. | |
| FAQ's | Frequently Asked Questions show that youunderstand the situation ("I anticipate your question. Here's the answer.") If you find you've got a bunch of FAQ's focusing on a particular topic, then you may want to create a mini-presentation. | |
| Site Map | A visual overview of the site representation speeds understanding and can be an excellent shortcut for those who use it. As ever, a picture is worth a thousand words. | |
| Standard Online Help | Includes the usual power tools: Table of Contents, Index and Keyword Search. This stuff is packed with information - The challenge is getting people to use it. Screenshots and graphics help a lot. | |
Hyperlinks are great for making immediate connections, but I often don't know what I'm getting into. Sometimes the biggest interactive design challenge is to give me an idea of what happens next...
| Context sensitive info. Available at the moment of need. Lean text. Task-oriented demos. And Pictures. |