Documentation for People Who Don't Like to Think

We create online help based on the assumption the people will avoid it at all costs.

Confusing? Let me explain: online help is a blend of technical documentation and web development. And it's a larger challenge than both. People don't like to stop and figure something out. They don't want to think. They just want to get something done. People use help because the product forced them to think.

And now he is frustrated. The user wants answers—now.

A simple, cross-browser friendly  HTML/JavaScript-based online help system.

When the user clicks on the Help button, they expect to find what they are looking for on the first screen-full of information that appears. They don't want to search or read lots of information to find what they need. What they see must be concise, to the point, clearly organized, free of unrelated data, and responsive to the user's questions and demands.

In other words, we have to assume they will poke into it, scan it, flip it open briefly, just long enough to find the specific information they need to get their task done.

Online help serves a very specific purpose—to deliver exact chunks of information relevant to the user's task as quickly and easily as possible.

Here are a couple of examples of a simple, cross-browser friendly  HTML/JavaScript-based online help and a programmers'  Reference Guide.

This is why design is as important as writing.