Interactive Poll: Why Can't Users Find Answers to Their Questions in Help?

by Tom Johnson on Aug 15, 2013
categories: findability

I'm preparing for an upcoming presentation at a local STC chapter in the SF Bay area. I'm hoping to get some feedback before I finalize this presentation, so if you have some ideas, I'd love to hear from you. Here's my draft:

Why Users Can't Find Answers to Their Questions in Help Content

One of the main goals of help material is to help users find answers to their questions, but so often this doesn't happen. Users foray into the help muttering under their breath only to leave it cursing vocally afterwards -- because the help didn't answer their question, or at least the user couldn't find the answer. Why not? Why is it so hard to guide users to the right information when they need it? In this presentation, I'll list 20 reasons why users can't find answers in help, and then suggest meaningful ways to connect users to answers in help material.

 

That's the extent of the description. Now here are my 20 reasons why users can't find their answers in help material. These answers are in the form of an interactive poll. I would like you to select the top reasons (make 5-10 selections or so) that you think are the main causes for which users can't find answers in help.

Your ratings will allow me to prioritize the answers to focus more on the core issues associated with help.

Poll: Why Can't Users Find Answers to Their Questions in Help?
	1. The answer isn't in the help because the help only sticks with obvious information.
	2. The answer is in text form, but the user likes visuals and so skips over long text blocks.
	3. The answer is an isolated task, but the user needs a more connected beginning-to-end workflow.
	4. The user searches for the answer, but the help's poor SEO prevents the answer from surfacing.
	5. The user is too lazy to search the help in a thorough enough way to find the answer.
	6. The user looks in the wrong place in the help. The topic can logically appear in various folders.
	7. The help uses terms unfamiliar to the user (e.g., "gizmo" instead of "widget").
	8. The help has been fragmented and dispersed over many small topics so the help is a maze.
	9. The content is out of date or wrong, perhaps referring to a previous version.
	10. The help is written in an intimidating, formal language that users find off-putting, unfriendly.
	11. Users don't trust help material, so they refuse to look through it and turn to Google instead.
	12. The table contents in the help file is too massive to allow users to find anything.
	13. The help is only available online but the user uses the product offline.
	14. The help doesn't provide concrete examples that make the concepts understandable.
	15. The help is written for a user way beyond the level of the actual user.
	16. The user's question involves a feature not available -- the help only lists what users *can* do.
	17. The help is written by an outside tech writer isolated from the business process & environment.
	18. The user wants to read the a PDF version (to prop up beside monitor) but only HTML is available.
	19. The user opens the help but is immediately intimidated by it because it's 600 pages long.
	20. The answer is buried in a long page, but the user only spends 2 minutes max on a page scanning.
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Do you have another reason that I didn't list? Feel free to add it and any other feedback in the comments below.