All-Around User Assistance:
Delivering Information Layers
Nicky Bleiel
Senior Information Developer
ComponentOne
DocTrain East 2008
Burlington, MA
October 30, 2008

What we’ll discuss
• What is elegant user assistance?
• The embedded, Dynamic Help solution
• Demonstration of layered user assistance
• Planning for and delivering information
layers

What is “Elegant User Assistance?”
Information when needed. Immediate. Now.
Convergent with other UA; each layer works
with others*
Tooltips
Web sites
Blogs
Forums
Wikis
Job Aids
Videos/podcasts
* Don’t need to deliver all of these … ☺

What is “Elegant User Assistance?”
Satisfies different preferences for
information
Has a feedback loop
No information dead ends

“Information when needed” —
Embedded, Dynamic Help
• Provides immediate information, but can be
hard to implement. Traditionally requires a
great deal of Software Development and
Information Development time.
• Changes time consuming.
• Updating difficult.
• Traditional online Help still a necessary
deliverable

The solution?

Develop Help, use it to create
Embedded, Dynamic User Assistance
In the User Interface …

… and in dialog boxes also

Popular UA Technologies
Source: 2007 WritersUA Skills and
Technologies Survey
http://www.writersua.com/surveys/skillstec
h07/skillstech_techs.htm

Demo: Dynamic Help, Super ToolTips
and other deliverables

How is this done?
• Dynamic Help control
• Can be integrated in Visual Studio.NET applications
• Information Development does mapping
• Help file(s) and one XML mapping file returned to
Software Development.
• Help file can be HTML Help (.chm) or uncompiled browser-
based Help (NetHelp)
More information:
http://www.componentone.com/SuperProducts/DynamicHelp
WinForms/

Demo: Mapping Help to the UI

Delivering Information Layers

Step 1: Design Dynamic Help
To create a deliverable that can be embedded,
and still stand alone:
Breakdown the UI elements (there must be a
help topic for each relevant UI item)
Breakdown major functionality (you may be
able to map UI to these topics, but not
always)
Structure Help to explain UI, but expand out
so additional information is layered on top.

Step 1: Design Dynamic Help (cont)
Decide what controls you will map
Map Help individual toolbar buttons or ribbon groups?
Map dialog boxes to field-level information or the
entire dialog?
Then: do a sample TOC. Note mappings.

Step 2: Plan Convergence
• List other deliverables (existing and desired)
• Analyze how deliverables compliment each
other. Eliminate overlapping.
• Plan how these deliverables will be
integrated in UI.
• Strike the right balance between too much
information and too little.
• Make sure you have uniformity – for
example, will tooltips match or enhance
Help?

Step 3: Create Help

Step 4: Map/Deliver Help
Use provided mapping interface.
Deliver proper files (Help and XML mapping
file) to Software Development.

Step 5: Complete Convergence
• Integrate all other deliverables
• Verify that web resources are live
• Release

Questions
Contact information:
Nicky Bleiel
ComponentOne
Pittsburgh, PA
nickyb@componentone.com
www.componentone.com
Blog “Technical Communication Camp”
http://blogs.componentone.com/CS/blogs/techcamp/default.asp
x
Podcast on Tech Writer Voices/Interview with Tom Johnson
Analyzing Your Users and Needs Before Creating help
Deliverables:
http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2008/05/31/podcast-
analyzing-your-users-and-needs-before-creating-the-help-
deliverables-interview-with-nicky-bleiel/