Guidelines of Online Help Design, E-mail Help Methods and Online Customer Service for Website Developers

2.1. Online Help

1. Anticipate problems users may encounter and prepare solutions.
2. Provide a convenient access mechanism to online help.
3. Make sure that users can easily and quickly understand the help content.
4. Organize help information so that it can be browsed easily.
5. Provide tools for browsing help information.
6. Present help information in a format that is easily readable on-screen.
7. Refer users to additional methods of getting help when they require assistance beyond what is provided in the help.
8. Maintain the help content after its initial release.

2.2. E-mail Help Methods

1. Acknowledge the customer's request promptly.
2. Assist users in formulating their problems.
3. Inform customers of the progress being made to respond to their requests.
4. Communicate with customers effectively
5. Be prepared for further questions from the same customer.
6. Store the customer's request and the solution for future use.

2.3. Online Customer Services

1. Establish communication channels with the customers
2. Be receptive to customers' comments and suggestions
3. Keep in touch with customers.
4. Provide a good self-help facility for customers who want to solve their problem by themselves.
5. Respect customer's privacy.

3.1. Guidelines for Online Help Design

1. Anticipate problems users may encounter and prepare solutions.
   • Conduct expert reviews and field trials to see what kind of problems users may encounter when they use the webpage. It is helpful for the developer to see how users present their problems to the online help system. There are two advantages to this. First, the developer can better understand the sort of problems ordinary users may run into. Second, the developer can observe how users formulate their problems. The developer can then improve the design of the help interface so as to help users formulate their problems.

   • Collect as many problems as possible, and prepare accurate solutions for each of them. The coverage of an online help system is critical, because if a help system misses a topic a user needs, the user may feel that the developers are simply unaware of the problem, and that the website is poorly designed and unreliable. Therefore, the coverage of help topics greatly affects user satisfaction.

2. Provide a convenient access mechanism to online help.
   • Place the link for help in a place where users can find it easily. The link can be put in the navigation bar, side bar, top or bottom of webpages. Every page on a web-site should have a link to online help in nearly the same position (perhaps, the upper left corner of the pages), so that users know where to look. Moreover, the link should be clearly visible; so users can find it at a glance. Yahoo's Help (http://www.yahoo.com/, last accessed date: 2001/4/17) is a good example of a well-positioned help link.

   • Provide context-sensitive help, where users get different help messages depending on where they are on the web-site. A typical example of context-sensitive help is Apple's balloon help. On some websites, when the cursor is moved over a link or picture, a message describing the link or picture appears in the status bar. With dynamic HTML, it is possible to implement various types of useful context-sensitive help, so that help can be provided immediately when a problem is encountered.

3. Make sure that users can easily and quickly understand the help content.
   • Each section of a topic should be self-contained. Users should be able to get their solution by reading the only relevant section, and without referring to other pages. If a help topic is not self-contained, users may have to read a great number of sections before their question is answered. This is quite confusing and annoying for the user, and users can get lost in the help content. Therefore, developers should try to reduce dependencies between help sections.

   • Use concise instructional sentences. It is always good to use clear, succinct, task-oriented and instructional sentences, as it helps users get the idea and determine what to do as quickly as possible. Extra wording should be reduced and a step-by-step troubleshooting approach is appropriate. In addition, an anthropomorphic writing style should be avoided.

   • Include with meaningful examples and scenarios. Try to give examples in each section so users can follow the example to see how to accomplish their tasks. "A good example can replace a thousand words."

4. Organize help information so that it can be browsed easily.
   • Organize topics hierarchically according to conceptual structure of topics. Since there is a large amount of information in a help system, designers need a way to organize the information so that automated tools can handle the information. One trivial organization is to create a conceptual structure of topics, and group related topics in a branch of a hierarchy. The developer will soon find that this organization will be helpful to the whole development of the online help system.

   • Organize the content in a section in a logical order so that the user can grasp the idea by skimming through the section. This refers not to the global organization of online information but to the organization of content within a help web-page. The content should be divided into several sections, such as program description, solution, example, and reference.

   • Link related sections together for cross-reference. Although help information should be modular and self-contained, there are some situations where users may want information about related topics. Therefore, it is convenient for users to jump directly from one section to related sections by following links.

5. Provide tools for browsing help information.
   • Devise a model for navigation and provide navigational functionality in the user interface of the online help system. Developers should consider a navigational model for their help system. A navigational model describes how a user explores information within the online help system. Based on this model, the developer can put convenient navigational controls in the user interface of the help system. Some common navigational controls are: go to next or previous topic, return to the most recent screen, go to index or table of contents, open search facility, set a bookmark, go to a bookmarked page.

   • Provide a table of contents and an index. A table of contents and an index allow users to look for information in a hierarchical or alphabetical structure. These two navigational techniques originated from printed books. Researchers have found that users frequently use an index more often than a table of contents in an online help system. The help system should also have a keyword search function for the table of contents and index.

   • Allow keyword searching of the whole online help system and string search within a webpage. Searching is extremely valuable tool that most users expect to have. In an online help system, two basic search functions are global keyword search and string search through the full text of a web-page. The former allows users to find a topic while the latter helps users to find a paragraph in a webpage.

6. Present help information in a format that is easily readable on-screen.
   • Present help information in a format such that users can scan through it on a computer screen. Researchers have found that there are substantial differences between reading from paper and reading on screen. Text on the screen is generally less readable than text on paper, mainly due to low screen resolutions. Therefore, the layout of content on the screen should be different from that on paper. Try to present information in a list or table. Use a font size that makes text easy to read. Should a web-page have multiple pages, or one long page for the user to scroll through? How many windows should be used? These are major design questions that a developer should determine the best answer to. Ideally, the information should fit in a single window with scrolling.

   • Prepare a text-only version of the webpage. Some users are still using old computers that are not capable of displaying graphical webpages well. Some web browsers may not support all of the features of modern webpages. To accommodate these groups of users, developers should provide a text-only version of their online help system.

   • Use multimedia and interactive activities for illustration. One advantage of online documentation is the availability of multimedia and interactive activities to present information. Most users enjoy these presentation styles, though they may not be as efficient as a text-based approach.

7. Refer users to additional methods of getting help when they require assistance beyond what is provided in the help.
   • Refer users to the developers of the web-page, consultants or user groups for further assistance. Although we know that complete coverage of topics in an online help system is critical, it is impossible to predict all of the problems users will encounter after the online help system is installed. In addition, some users who have special needs require additional assistance. Therefore, the online help system should refers users to other information sources such as online bulletin boards, newsgroups, e-mail help, telephone consultants, and live chat rooms, if further assistance is needed.

   • Include links to relevant websites for further information on a topic. The Internet has now evolved into the largest global information resource. Thus, developers should provide links to relevant websites so that interested users can refer to them for further information.

8. Maintain the help content after its initial release.
   • Update help content according to users' feedback. It is inevitable that there will be errors in the help data, and revision is necessary. From time to time, developers should collect a list of common user problems. Maintainers of the system are urged to update the help contents as often as possible. One advantage of online help is that information can be electronically updated rapidly at a low cost. If contents of the online help is stored on a central server, the help content can be updated without requiring any action from the user.

3.2. Guidelines for E-mail Help Method

1. Acknowledge the customer's request promptly.
   • Reply to the customer promptly. Set response schedules. A confirmation e-mail should be sent as soon as the customer's e-mail is received. This can be done by an auto-reply e-mail system. Service providers should set response schedules to ensure the quality of service. For example, a service provider can guarantee that customer service representatives will make every effort to respond to users' messages within 24 hours.

   • Prepare an e-mail template for putting the customer on hold. If there are such a large number of e-mail help requests that the service providers cannot respond immediately, they should put customers on hold by sending an e-mail informing them that they have received their inquiry and that they will be served shortly. This message can be set as a standard template.

2. Assist user in formulating their problem.
   • Guide customers in making their requests. Some customers may be inexperienced in writing e-mail; especially those are novices or infrequent Internet users. Guidelines should be provided on how to send an e-mail request. For example, the guidelines may suggest that customers should indicate the page upon which encountered the problem, the error message given, and relevant customer information. A HTML form with predefined input fields can help customers fill out help requests. With these, the service provider can more quickly and easily diagnose the problem.

   • Ask users for additional information if a request is not clear. Service providers should not hesitate to ask users for further information if they cannot fully understand the problem. Service providers should not guess the user's problem and respond based on unclear or insufficient information. If necessary, they should call the customer to obtain the necessary information.

3. Inform customers of the progress being made to respond to their requests.
   • Tell customers who is taking care of their inquires. For a question that would be answered with several e-mails, the service provider should tell the customer who the customer service representative in change of handling their problems is. The customer should know the e-mail address and phone number of the representative so that they can contact him or her. Customer service representatives should reply promptly if customers contact them directly to enquire about their progress.

   • Inform customers of the progress of being made to solve their problems. It is useful to take initiative informing customers of the progress being made to solve their problem, because customers may be busy and not have time to follow-up. This is also a good opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the customer and the service provider.

4. Communicate with the customer effectively
   • Reply to e-mail politely and directly. As this is interpersonal communication, an explanatory tone should be favored over an instructional one. Always be polite to the customer, and answer their questions directly. The e-mail does not need to be short, but it should be concise and easy to read.

   • Follow e-mail netiquette. Just as we follow certain rules of etiquette for writing letters, we should follow rules for writing e-mail, informally called ``Netiquette''. Following netiquette can enhance the effectiveness of e-mail. Failing to follow it can jeopardize customer relationships. A good guideline on e-mail netiquette is available at Workz.com (http://www.workz.com/content/233.asp, last accessed date: 2001/4/17).

5. Be prepared for further questions from the same customer.
   • Direct customers to a specific website that provides more information. For example, customers should be told of a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page so that they can refer to if they encounter other problems. This way, customers will learn an additional way solving future problems.

   • Keep a record of customer inquiries for future use. The same customer may have more problems in the future, and knowning the customer's history can help in answering additional questions. Therefore, maintaining the customer's record for future use is a good practice. The service provider should assign a customer identification number to each customer and maintain a folder for him or her. The records should be kept confidential.

6. Store the customer's request and the solution for future use.
   • Maintain a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and prepare their solutions. It is likely that many customers will encounter the same problem. Therefore, recording these questions and answers to a public FAQ can reduce the number of customer help requests. The FAQ is also useful for customers who do not wish to send e-mail.

   • Make changes to the web-site and documentation. In fact, some website problems are not discovered during the site's development, but when customers actually use the site. Therefore, when a problem in a web-site is discovered, the service provider should plan to revise the website and its documentations.

3.3. Guidelines for Online Customer Service

1. Establish communication channels with the customers
   • Offer telephone consultants, e-mail help, and the postal address of the service provider. Service providers should offer a variety of ways for customers to contact them. Telephone consultants are the traditional, and often the most effective form of communication. Many organizations offer a toll-free phone number at which customers can reach a knowledgeable consultant. E-mail help is also common communication method for Internet users. Although writing can be slower than oral communication, wording can be more precise and messages can be disseminated easily. A postal address is mainly useful for people who live far away from the city and cannot make phone calls or access the Internet easily. Also, sometimes it is necessary to send a physical object, in which case a postal address is needed.

2. Be receptive to customers' comments and suggestions
   • Encourage customers to give feedback. Service providers should always be receptive and encourage customers' feedback, which may include questions, recommendations, opinions, and complains. There should be statements on the website asking for feedback. In addition, the procedure of giving feedback should be simple. For example, it should not require customers to fill out many personal details before the feedback can be made. A questionnaire is a direct method of getting feedback. However, conducting a survey by using a questionnaire on the Internet is not effective. An in-person survey is much better, but is costly.

3. Keep in touch with customers.
   • Create an account for each customer. Customers should have accounts on the web-site that record their personal preferences and history. Each time customers visit the web-site, the website should open their accounts, which recalls their previous settings and enables customers to see their history. Personalization facilitates a long-term relationship between the customer and the service provider.

   • Send a newsletter to customers periodically. Customers may forget about a website if they do not visit it for a long period of time. Newsletters are common and effective way to re-establish relationships with customers. In the newsletter, the service provider can introduce the new services of the web site and provide news of interests. However, newsletters should not be sent too frequently, otherwise customers will consider them junk mail.

4. Provide a good self-help facility for customers who want to solve their problem by themselves.
   • Make online documentation and online help available. Some customers do not like to deal with people. When they need help, they prefer to use the online documentation and solve the problem themselves, rather than contacting customer service. Therefore, the service provider should make the online documentation available to them and provide online help. Such a strategy also reduces the workload of the customer service department.

   • Offer alternative methods of getting help from user groups. Some customers prefer to ask other Internet users for help rather than contacting with customer service with a formal help request. The service provider should set up an online bulletin board, newsgroup or live chat room for an open discussion in a relatively relaxed environment. Customer service representativeis can also participate in the discussion and help customers there.

5. Respect customer's privacy.
   • Keep the customer's record and personal information securely. Privacy has become a major concern to customers on the web. People do not want their personal information being used in a way that they do not expect. Therefore, all personal customer information should be secure. For example, this can be done by allowing only a few people the permission to access the customer's record. Also, security of network should be improved such that hackers cannot access the data file.

   • Use network security technology such as secure e-mail and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) in all communications and transactions. Both of these security measures will offer a high quality of security. This is an important issue, because if customers found that their privacy is not guaranteed, they will hesitate to use, or even stop using the web-site. SSL has been widely used due to its availability. If SSL is not used, customers should be reminded of this fact.

4.1. Amazon.com  (http://www.amazon.com/, last accessed date: 2001/4/17)

1. Online Help
   • URL: Amazon.com: Help (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
     
   • Coverage of topics: more than 10 topics
   • Location of the link to the online help: always at the upper left corner of webpages.
   • Context-sensitive help: no
   • Organization of information: hierarchical
   • Organization of content: Question and Answer (FAQ style)
   • Cross-reference: yes
   • Navigation: (1) Location bar. Users can jump to upper level of the hierarchy of pages (2) History of visited pages is shown. Users can jump to the recently visited page directly.
   • Table of content: yes
   • Index: no
   • Keyword search: yes
   • Screen layout: easy to read
   • Text only version: yes
   • Multimedia: no
   • Interactive activity: no
   • Further assistance: yes
   • Link to other website: no
   • Other features: Top 5 questions are shown

2. E-mail Help Methods
   • URL: Amazon.com: E-mail Us (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
   • Guideline: a table showing which e-mail address should be used for different type of questions.
   • Link to online help: yes
   • Customer record: yes
   • Location of the link to the e-mail help: within online help

3. Online Customer Services
   • Communication channel: e-mail
   • Ask for feedback: no
   • Customer account: yes
   • Newsletter: no
   • Online documentation and online help: yes
   • Getting help from other user: no
   • Security measure: SSL
   • Privacy statement: yes

4.2. Expedia.com  (http://www.expedia.com/, last accessed date: 2001/4/17)

1. Online Help
   • URL: Expedia.com: Customer Support (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
   • Coverage of topics: more than 10 topics
   • Location of the link to the online help: always at the upper left corner of webpages.
   • Context-sensitive help: no
   • Organization of information: hierarchical
   • Organization of content: Question and Answer (FAQ style) with interactive activity.
   • Cross-reference: yes
   • Navigation: Side bar
   • Table of content: yes
   • Index: no
   • Keyword search: yes (but not specific to the online help system)
   • Screen layout: easy to read
   • Text only version: no
   • Multimedia: no
   • Interactive activity: yes
   • Further assistance: yes
   • Link to other website: yes
   • Other features: frequently asked questions on side bar

2. E-mail Help Methods
   • URL: Expedia.com: Feedback Form (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
   • Guideline: a fill-in form to help customers identify the kind of questions they ask, and ask them to give relevant information of the customer.
   • Link to online help: yes
   • Customer record: unknown
   • Location of the link to the e-mail help: within online help

3. Online Customer Services
   • Communication channel: e-mail and phone
   • Ask for feedback: yes
   • Customer account: yes
   • Newsletter: no
   • Online documentation and online help: yes
   • Getting help from other user: no
   • Security measure: SSL
   • Privacy statement: yes

4.3. Yahoo!  (http://www.yahoo.com/, last accessed date: 2001/4/17)

1. Online Help
   • URL: Yahoo! Help (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
   • Coverage of topics: more than 80 topics
   • Location of the link to the online help: always at the upper left corner of webpages.
   • Context-sensitive help: yes
   • Organization of information: hierarchical
   • Organization of content: Question and Answer (FAQ style) with interactive activity.
   • Cross-reference: yes
   • Navigation: Side bar
   • Table of content: yes
   • Index: yes (alphabetical ordering of table of content)
   • Keyword search: yes
   • Screen layout: easy to read
   • Text only version: no, but the original webpages are simple enough to be shown in most web browser.
   • Multimedia: no
   • Interactive activity: no
   • Further assistance: yes
   • Link to other website: no
   • Other features: Top 5 questions on side bar

2. E-mail Help Methods
   • URL: There is no centralized e-mail help. But there is feedback form under each topics. For example, Yahoo! Testimonial (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
   • Guideline: a fill-in form to help customers identify the kind of questions they ask, and ask them to give relevant information of the customer.
   • Link to online help: yes
   • Customer record: unknown
   • Location of the link to the e-mail help: within online help

3. Online Customer Services
   • Communication channel: e-mail
   • Ask for feedback: yes
   • Customer account: yes
   • Newsletter: yes
   • Online documentation and online help: yes
   • Getting help from other user: no
   • Security measure: SSL, password protection
   • Privacy statement: yes

4.4. Britannica Store  (http://store.britannica.com/, last accessed date: 2001/4/17)

1. Online Help
   • URL: Britannica Store: Help Center (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
   • Coverage of topics: more than 10 topics
   • Location of the link to the online help: always at the upper left corner of webpages.
   • Context-sensitive help: yes
   • Organization of information: hierarchical (but in single page)
   • Organization of content: Question and Answer (FAQ style)
   • Cross-reference: yes
   • Navigation: not necessary (since all materials are in a single page)
   • Table of content: yes
   • Index: no
   • Keyword search: not necessary (since all materials are in a single page)
   • Screen layout: font size is too small
   • Text only version: no, but the original webpages are simple enough to be shown in most web browser.
   • Multimedia: no
   • Interactive activity: no
   • Further assistance: yes
   • Link to other website: yes

2. E-mail Help Methods
   • URL: Britannica Online: How to Contact Us (last accessed date: 2001/4/17)
   • Guideline: a fill-in form to help customers identify the kind of questions they ask, and ask them to give relevant information of the customer.
   • Link to online help: yes
   • Customer record: yes
   • Location of the link to the e-mail help: within online help

3. Online Customer Services
   • Communication channel: e-mail and phone
   • Ask for feedback: yes
   • Customer account: yes
   • Newsletter: yes
   • Online documentation and online help: yes
   • Getting help from other user: no
   • Security measure: SSL, password protection
   • Privacy statement: yes

6.1. Online Documents

1. Online Help
   • 20 Tips for Better Documentation (http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~tsr/tips.html)
   • Lecture Notes on Online Documentation (http://www.deakin.edu.au/~malcolmc/scc205/topic3.html)
   • Solutions: Professional Development for Technical Communicators (http://www.sol-sems.com/)
   • The Future of Online Help (http://www.winwriters.com/talks/lastc/lastc.htm)

2. E-mail Help Methods
   • Workz.com: Follow E-Mail Netiquette (http://www.workz.com/content/233.asp)
   • Workz.com: A Sample E-Mail Confirmation Message (http://www.workz.com/content/84.asp)
   • Workz.com: Answer Customer Questions Effectively (http://www.workz.com/content/96.asp)
   • Workz.com: Respond to Customer E-Mail Effectively (http://www.workz.com/content/351.asp)

3. Online Customer Services
   • Workz.com: Developing Customer Service Manuals (http://www.workz.com/content/196.asp)
   • Workz.com: Understand Online Customer Service (http://www.workz.com/content/404.asp)
   • Workz.com: Posting an FAQ List (http://www.workz.com/content/332.asp)

6.2. Web Links

1. WinWriters: Online Help Conference (http://www.winwriters.com/ohc/)
2. Work Write: Leaders in User Assistance for the Windows and Web Environments (http://www.workwrite.com/)
3. WinWriters: Training for Software User Assistance (http://www.winwriters.com/)
4. Software Design Works: Online Help Services (http://www.swdesignworks.com/services/online_help.html)

6.3. Books

[1]

T. M. Duffy, J. E. Palmer, and B. Mehlenbacher. Online Help: Design and Evaluation. Human/Computer Interaction. Ablex Publishing Corporation, Norwood, NJ, 1992.

[2]

G. Kearsley. Online Help Systems: Design and Implementation. Human/Computer Interaction. Ablex Publishing Corporation, Norwood, NJ, 1988.

[3]

B. Shneiderman. The Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 3rd edition, 1998.

6.4. Papers

[4]

S. D. Goodall. Online help: A part of documentation. In ACM Tenth International Conference on Systems Documentation, pages 169-174, 1992.

[5]

J. Mischel. The developer's guide to WINHELP.EXE: Harnessing the Windows help engine, chapter Help file design considerations, pages 149-160. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1994.

[6]

M. C. Nichols. Using style guidelines to create consistent online information. In Technical Communication, volume 41, pages 432-438, 1994.

[7]

M. C. Nichols. The Role of Display Tools in Implementing Effective Online Help Systems. PhD thesis, North Carolina State University, 1996.

[8]

M. Priestley. Task Oriented or Task Disoriented: Designing a Usable Help Web. In ACM 16th International Conference on Systems Documentation, pages 194-199, 1998.

[9]

K. L. Turk and M. C. Nichols. Online Help Systems: Technological Evoluation or Revolution. In ACM 14th International Conference on Systems Documentation, pages 239-242, 1996.

[10]

H. F. Wen. Empirical Studies of Online Help. A paper for the course CMSC 838s at the University of Maryland, College Park, 2000.