GemX's Classy Reply to Daly's Questions

Posted by Pierre Paul Landry
Jun 28, 2008 at 06:22 PM

dan7000 wrote:
I’d go farther than that. I think that well-designed, usable software should not need a help file. If someone needs to look at the help file then they are experiencing a flaw in your design.
——————————-

For software which implement a known concept, I think this is possible.

But when something is really innovative, when it does not resemble some other well-known app, or when it is a cross between 2 or more apps, then, some form of documentation, start-up guide, etc. is essential.

So many of my users were baffled at first, and after talking, reading, thinking, one day they say: Aha! now I see the light. Everything becomes simple, clear, predictable… and powerful. But until that light gets turned on, because it is an unusual concept, users need help.

A worker requires training to use a new tool unless (1) the tool is very simple, or (2) he’s been trained on something very similar.