IT Applications Theory Slideshows

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IT Applications Theory Slideshows
On-screen user documentation

• By Mark Kelly
• McKinnon Secondary College
• Vceit.com

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Contents

• What qualifies as onscreen?
• Pros and Cons onscreen vs printed
• Types
• Quick-start guide
• Tutorial
• Content-sensitive help
• User Manual
• Technical reference
• Installation guide
• (bolded ones are required knowledge)

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ITA U4O1 Note

• Your onscreen user documentation should explain
  how to re-use the solution in the future, not how
  the solution was created.
• You need to explain how someone should use your
  spreadsheet and produce the output.
• Do NOT explain how the solution was created.
  E.g. dont explain how to use VLOOKUP

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Onscreen?

• Its intended to be seen onscreen rather than to
  be printed.
• Does NOT include Word, PDF which are meant to be
  printed.
• Does include web pages, multimedia animation,
  Flash, multimedia slideshow in kiosk mode so user
  controls navigation

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How to identify onscreen documentation

• Multimedia
• Lots of graphics still pictures, graphs, photos
• Hyperlinks, buttons
• Animation, video, screen movies
• Audio music, sound effects, voice recording

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Storing onscreen documentation

• On CD/DVD
• Website
• Slideshow
• Electronic help file
• Screen recording

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Advantages of printing

• can be accessed anywhere, anytime without the
  need for electricity, computer equipment or
  internet connection
• is usually better written due to more careful
  editing
• will still be readable even after many years and
  after many changes to file systems, disk formats,
  compression technologies etc which can render
  electronic documents inaccessible.

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Disadvantages of printing

• bulky
• expensive to ship
• very expensive to print in colour
• slow to update
• hard to search
• no active links between related sections
• difficult and expensive to copy
• wears out with regular use
• can get lost

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advantages of onscreen

• instantly updateable
• can use animation, video, audio etc
• can be interactive
• easy to search
• hyperlinks connect related sections
• free use of colour
• easy to copy and distribute

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Disadvantages of onscreen

• need electricity, a computer and often internet
  to read it
• very hard to read in bright sunshine
• some locations (e.g. beach, factory, aircraft)
  are not computer-friendly
• usually can't easily underline sections or add
  comments
• some people find it very hard to read onscreen

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Quick start guide

• Brief introduction to a product
• Just enough information for the user to get it
  started
• Only covers very basic introductory operations

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Tutorial

• Actually teaches users
• Step-by-step lesson covering how to use the
  product.
• Often example-based

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Content-sensitive help

• Electronic help built into the product that
  responds to what the user is currently doing.
• e.g. if they have a table formatting dialogue box
  open and they press F1, the first help topic
  offered would relate to table formatting.
• Also called context-sensitive help.

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User Manual

• Complete and detailed information on every aspect
  of the product, used for random reference by the
  user.

Tip use as few words as possible for an
international audience
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Technical reference

• For experts only, not average users
• Detailed information on how the product is built
• How to modify, repair, extend it
• Troubleshooting

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Installation Guide

• Very brief leaflet showing how to install the
  hardware or software
• Usually printed rather than electronic

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Good onscreen documentation

• Clear easy to read and understand
• Concise as few words as possible
• Comprehensive nothing left out
• Current - up-to-date
• Correct - accurate
• Controllable easy to use navigate

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Features

• Onscreen documentation shares many features with
  interface design.
• Refer to the Interfaces slideshow and Design
  Elements slideshow for more info on things like
• Contrast
• Typefaces
• Colour schemes
• Whitespace

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IT APPLICATIONS SLIDESHOWS

• By Mark Kelly
• McKinnon Secondary College
• vceit.com

These slideshows may be freely used, modified or
distributed by teachers and students anywhere on
the planet (but not elsewhere). They may NOT be
sold. They must NOT be redistributed if you
modify them.