Online help feedback and Business Service Management

Even though I am a technical writer, I have been an unenthusiastic developer of software online Help for years. But recent technological developments bring to mind the advantages of business service management (BSM) and this recognition has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for developing online Help. Why did I dislike developing online Help so much? And how is BSM related to online Help? Let me explain.

Studies have consistently shown that online Help for software applications is not that helpful. First of all, users have learned to avoid the Help button after using it and often not finding the information they needed. Think of your own experience. When you click the Help button and don’t find what you are looking for, what are the odds that you click the Help button again? Now before my fellow tech writers object, yes, there are good online Help systems. But most are not. Low expectations of online Help have been engrained in most users. Hence, they avoid the Help button unless desperate. Now, as an online Help developer, this situation discourages me.

However, there is a glimmer of good news. In the last few years, Microsoft has introduced the ability for users to provide feedback on the usefulness of individual Help topics (http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=493). Other technology supposedly allows you to track the usage rate of online documents at a highly granular level. This technology is exciting because it could tell me the Help topics that are most accessed and how effective they are. This type of feedback is like gold for tech writers because it would allow us to hone in on providing the type of information that users really need and eventually, improve the usefulness (and the reputation) of online Help.

So, how are these changes related to BSM? Well, BSM is about linking the business to IT so that companies know that the money they spend on IT is spent effectively. In other words, the spending is aligned with business priorities. Similarly, with online Help, writers need to know that the information they are providing for the user is useful and aligned with the business priority of making the software easy to use and hence, easier to sell. Writing online Help topics that nobody reads or needs does not serve the business. Just like it does not serve the business to fix a router that has no impact on the bottom line before fixing a server that is running the order entry system.

Bill Hunter