Revising documentation deliverables based on usability evaluation findings
Dave Yeats · 2004
As various usability-testing methods continue to gain in popularity in software development organizations, it is time to examine how software documentation can also benefit from usability evaluation. This short paper briefly describes a case study in which a software documentation team used the findings from a usability study of their software installation manual to justify a large change in the architecture of their information deliverables. Specifically, the team chose to cease delivery of their installation documentation in a printed manual format in favor of context-sensitive online help delivered directly in the installation wizard interface. The online help version of the installation instructions meets the users' usability requirements by allowing users to access information directly from the interface itself.