Four communication and information sciences Masters students from Radboud University in the Netherlands are researching user experiences with Help authoring tools (specifically: Author-it, Flare, Doc-To-Help, Help & Manual, and RoboHelp).
They have created a survey to gain more insight in user-friendliness of functionality and overall user experiences. With the results, they plan to:
- Write an article.
- Create a matrix showing a clear overview of functionalities and associated user-friendliness score.
- Write a more practical report with recommendations.
It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete the one-page, 60-question survey. If you would like a copy of the results, you can enter your email address. You can also volunteer to participate in a short phone interview regarding the results.
The students are aware that the results are not scientific, but your help is appreciated in giving them solid data that they can analyze.
Take the survey.
If you have any comments or questions, post them here. We will do our best to get the answers.
ComponentOne has announced the release of Doc-To-Help 2010. The latest version integrates with Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS), providing one interface to manage and distribute documentation.
And Doc-To-Help 2010 debuts the ability to convert any RoboHelp project.
Read the full press release.
The Summer 2009 issue of the Communicator from The Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators includes a review of Doc-To-Help 2009 v2. Read the review at the ComponentOne website.
Dramatically improve your end-user’s experience with embedded, dynamic help. Check out this month’s Doc-To-Help Tech Connection to find out how from Nicky, our Doc-To-Help Senior Information Developer, as she showcases the benefits of using the ComponentOne DynamicHelp control. You can also sign-up for an upcoming Doc-To-Help Webcast at no charge, download the latest Doc-To-Help software update, and find out about a future Podcast that highlights five ways Doc-To-Help can make your life easier.
It’s all inside Doc-To-Help Tech Connection.
Have you visited the ComponentOne website lately? They’ve been busy working on three different products, all available now:
- Doc-To-Help 2009. The latest release includes an XML-based editor, intuitive interface. industry-standard code, and style editor. And Visual Studio users can take advantage of DynamicHelp, which uses drag-and-drop to add a Help pane to the application interface. You definitely need to take a look at this if you are creating embedded Help.
- DemoWorks 2009. Create videos in WMV, Flash, animated GIF, executables, and more.
- FrontLine 2008. Do you need to create a Knowledge Base for your users? Check out FrontLine, which provides a searchable portal, web-based administration, and knowledge management interface. You can build your repository by creating new documents, importing existing documents, or referencing websites. (Note: IIS server is required.)
Also, when you get a chance, check out the ComponentOne blogs. Use the tag cloud at the upper right to see the appropriate entries. (Your programmers may want to check them out, too.)
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