Article

Toward a more accurate view of when and how people seek help with computer applications

Authors:

David G. Novick,

Edith Elizalde,

Nathaniel BeanAuthors Info & Claims

SIGDOC '07: Proceedings of the 25th annual ACM international conference on Design of communication

Pages 95 - 102

https://doi.org/10.1145/1297144.1297165

Published: 22 October 2007 Publication History

Abstract

Based on 40 interviews and 11 on-site workplace observations of people using computer applications at work, we confirm that use of printed and on-line help is very low and find that providing greater detail of categories solution methods can present a more realistic picture of users' behaviors. Observed study participants encountered a usability problem on average about once every 75 minutes and typically spent about a minute looking for a solution. Participants consumed much more time when they were unaware of a direct way of doing something and instead used less effective methods. Comparison of results from different data-collection methods suggests that interviews, and probably surveys, provide less reliable views of users' problem-solving behaviors than do participatory evaluation and direct observation.

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Hui JSeefeldt KBaer CSanifu LJackson ADillahunt T(2023)Community Tech Workers: Scaffolding Digital Engagement Among Underserved Minority BusinessesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36101807:CSCW2(1-25)Online publication date: 4-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3610180
Hertzum MHornbæk K(2023)Frustration: Still a Common User ExperienceACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/358243230:3(1-26)Online publication date: 10-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3582432
Kotturi YJohnson HSkirpan MFox SBigham JPavel A(2022)Tech Help Desk: Support for Local Entrepreneurs Addressing the Long Tail of Computing ChallengesProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3517708(1-15)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
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Index Terms

Toward a more accurate view of when and how people seek help with computer applications
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. HCI design and evaluation methods

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

SIGDOC '07: Proceedings of the 25th annual ACM international conference on Design of communication

October 2007

286 pages

ISBN:9781595935885

DOI:10.1145/1297144

General Chair:
David Novick
The University of Texas at El Paso, TX
,
Program Chair:
Clay Spinuzzi
The University of Texas at Austin, TX

Copyright © 2007 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 22 October 2007

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SIGDOC07: The 25th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication

October 22 - 24, 2007

Texas, El Paso, USA

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Overall Acceptance Rate 355 of 582 submissions, 61%

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Cited By

Hui JSeefeldt KBaer CSanifu LJackson ADillahunt T(2023)Community Tech Workers: Scaffolding Digital Engagement Among Underserved Minority BusinessesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36101807:CSCW2(1-25)Online publication date: 4-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3610180
Hertzum MHornbæk K(2023)Frustration: Still a Common User ExperienceACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/358243230:3(1-26)Online publication date: 10-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3582432
Kotturi YJohnson HSkirpan MFox SBigham JPavel A(2022)Tech Help Desk: Support for Local Entrepreneurs Addressing the Long Tail of Computing ChallengesProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3517708(1-15)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3491102.3517708
Joshi NMatejka JAnderson FGrossman TFitzmaurice GBernhaupt RMueller FVerweij DAndres JMcGrenere JCockburn AAvellino IGoguey ABjørn PZhao SSamson BKocielnik R(2020)MicroMentor: Peer-to-Peer Software Help Sessions in Three Minutes or LessProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376230(1-13)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3313831.3376230
Inbar OMeyer J(2019)Presenting the Relevance of Suggested Information2019 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC)10.1109/SMC.2019.8914441(3949-3955)Online publication date: Oct-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/SMC.2019.8914441
Lundin JEriksson Y(2018)An Investigation of Maintenance Technicians’ Information-Seeking Behavior in a Repair CenterIEEE Transactions on Professional Communication10.1109/TPC.2018.282608761:3(257-274)Online publication date: Sep-2018
https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2018.2826087
Isaksen HIversen MKaasboll JKanjo C(2017)Design of tooltips for health data2017 IST-Africa Week Conference (IST-Africa)10.23919/ISTAFRICA.2017.8102409(1-8)Online publication date: May-2017
https://doi.org/10.23919/ISTAFRICA.2017.8102409
Söderlund CLundin J(2017)What is an information source?Communication Design Quarterly10.1145/3071078.30710814:3(12-19)Online publication date: 27-Mar-2017
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(2017)Real-time detection of navigation problems on the World Wild WebInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.12.002101:C(1-9)Online publication date: 1-May-2017
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Friemel CMorana SPfeiffer JMaedche A(2017)On the Role of Users’ Cognitive-Affective States for User Assistance InvocationInformation Systems and Neuroscience10.1007/978-3-319-67431-5_5(37-46)Online publication date: 17-Nov-2017
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