“Is it OK to make the help button go straight to the support home page?”
It is great that you are making more of your tech comms content available online. However, jettisoning your users mid-task onto a generic landing page can be frustrating.
The Administration area of a WordPress blog has some really nice help design, which I have used in this post to demonstrate some alternatives.
Here, the help design feels:
- Predictable
- Clear
- Context-sensitive
- Linked to in-depth topics
- Dynamic and up-to-date
1. Predictable
The help button behaviour is predictable, before I have even selected it. The downward pointing arrow gives me the message that I am a) going to stay exactly where I am and b) going to get some expanded text or options.
2. Clear
The word “Help” in a decent size relative to the rest of the content on the screen makes it easy to find.
3. Context-sensitive
Once I select Help, the content is contextual.
4. Links to more
I also have access to general help categories. Following these links is going to take me away from the page to the support web site, but I get to a specific area I have chosen while I am still in context.
5. Dynamic and up-to-date
Once I select, for example, the Get Help Media category, the links I get look dynamic – updates to the WordPress Support web site may be feeding directly into the display area in help.
Do you have a help design favourite which you would like to use in a help makeover?
ROMAN9 