USER FOCUS
Hrishik and William
Goals
ter my presentation, you should be able to
Importance of proper user documentation.
Describe the way proper documentation affects
implementation.
Suggest various methods of user documentation.
Describe the proposed documentation affect
implementation.
The Use of Documentation
Intricate problems require complex programs to solve. In addition,
the user’s thinking may differ from the developer’s, therefore, the
user may not understand how the program functions.
If the user doesn’t understand how the program functions, then
he/ she may not be able to use all the functions in the program.
Even specialized technicians may not be able to set up new
systems properly for the users.
These shortcomings can be avoided by external documentation, it
is a user manual that explains every component of the product.
A neat and systematic software development procedure ensures
that all supporting documents are provided for the users in an
orderly manner. There are 2 types of documentation: Internal and
External documentation.
Internal Documentation
al documentation are the features and details of the code being used. Proper internal documentation has:
Appropriate module headers.
Appropriate comments.
Useful and meaningful variable names.
Useful module, classes, methods and function headers.
Appropriate code indentation.
Appropriate code structuring.
Appropriate use of enumerated types.
Appropriate use of constant identifiers.
Appropriate use of data types defined by the user
very difficult for the user to understand the source code without the documentations.
External Documentation
nal documentation is a separate document given to the users. It is usually in the form
User’s manual/ guide
Software requirements specification
document
Detailed description of the design
Implementation features of the program
Test document
l of these documents are provided to the users along with the program.
User Documentation
xternal documents should contain steps that allow the user to troubleshoot their program and
r assistance if the user is still unable to fix his program. The document should be well structur
ategorized into the different sections as below:
Manuals
Email Support
Embedded Assistance/ Integrated user assistance
Frequently asked questions
Live chat sessions
Online portals/ Web portals
Remote desktop connections
document can be in a written or in an online form, with the latter allowing the user to utilize th
ment faster and with ease.
Methods of Providing Documentation
Manuals - It is a guide that can be in the written or online form, the
written form allows the user to read the manual without the use of a
device and the online form allows the user to utilize multimedia
functions.
Email support - It is a form of documentation that allows users to
contact the support team with a query that will be replied with
answers at a certain date.
Embedded Assistance or Integrated user Assistance - It is a form of
documentation that is already installed in the program, it usually
comes out as speech bubbles when the user hovers over an icon with
a mouse. This type of documentation is effective as it is context-
specific, task specific and does not require users to describe the
problem.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) - It is a set of normally asked
questions that the developer expects the user to have, answered
before hand so that the user can understand how to fix the problem.
Methods of Providing Documentation
Live Chat Sessions - It asks the user to describe the problem and
then, they will come up with a solution to the problem. Unlike
email support, the answer will be instant, which is useful in
emergency situations.
Online support - Online support can be provided depending on
what is being documented. Moreover, web portals provide
updated manuals and ‘FAQ section’ pages .
Remote Desktop Connections(RDC) - This function permits a
expert from any corner of the world to access the user’s PC via
the Internet and control it. This option is best used when the
user is quite inexperienced. RDC has security risks since the
specialist is allowed full access to the user’s system.
