Effects Of Documentation Errors On User Perception Of Interactive Programs: Conclusions And Results  

Defining the quality of information has long been a controversial item. Many different theories and methodologies have been brought forward; almost all share at least one common basis— Typographical errors lower the perceived quality of information. In this experiment, the first of a planned, series, we examined the effects of typographical on the user’s perception of the quality of the product and documentation. The conclusions of this first study, and the implications we can make draw them, are presented in this paper.

See, Edward J.P. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Documentation>Assessment

Effects Of Documentation Errors On User Perception Of Interactive Programs: Results  

It would be useful to determine how much effect errors in product documentation have on users, if errors do not seriously interfere with product use. In an effort to start collecting information on this issue, we designed an experiment to explore the reactions of users to a simple interactive program with flawed documentation. We hypothesized that the product quality would be judged in part by the quality of the documentation, if the errors in the documentation interfered with task performance. We also hypothesized that some but not all users would be sensitive to documentation errors and would downgrade their rating of the program and the documentation based on these errors. The results of our experiment are presented in this paper.

Ridgway, Richard K. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Documentation>Assessment

An End-to-End Process for Creating and Validating Scenario-Driven Documentation  

This paper describes the end-to-end approach we used to create and validate scenario-driven information for a new product. This approach focuses as much on designing and testing information as it does on writing the information.

Newman-Collins, Ann and Linda Streitfeld. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation>Assessment

Technical Communications and Customer Support: Partnering to Publish What Customers Want to Know  

Most customers do not provide direct feedback on product documentation. Instead, when documentation fails to provide the information that a customer needs to use a tool effectively, he or she calls Customer Support for advice. To find out what information was missing or incorrect in our product documentation, I analyzed the Cadence Customer Support call logs that pertained to my products to find out what questions customers ask most about each product. I then partnered with teams of applications engineers (AEs) to improve our documentation by answering common questions, both on the Web in FAQ documents and in product manuals.

Guglielmetti, Krista. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation>Assessment>FAQ