12 Campbell: We're Thinking About Going On-Line
Team 2: Ender, Warren
What it means to go on-line
Going on-line is not a magic cure that will fix policy and procedure problems. It does not guarantee instant understanding or proper application. On-line documentations is just a different method of communicating information. In the past, users were bound by verbal or written information. Now there is also the option of sending information electronically.
Three methods of communicating with users
1. Verbal
2. Written
3. Electronic
What does not change
The content of your policies and procedures does not change. Neither does your writing, editing, or revision processes. All the challenges of good writing still exist.
What does change
The method by which the final policy or procedure is communicated to the user does change. Printing and copying is no longer necessary. Messages are sent on-line, rather than on paper.
Advantages of going on-line
• Logistical
⁃ lower maintenance costs
⁃ faster
⁃ more efficient
⁃ instant distribution of originals and revisions
⁃ space saving
⁃ easier access for disabled users
• Informational
⁃ can link related facts or documents together in a way that gives users faster access
⁃ can jump quickly from one document to another
• Motivational
⁃ less intimidating to users who are familiar with computers
⁃ easier and faster than picking up a 300 page manual
Disadvantages of going on-line
• Logistical
⁃ need for training
⁃ requires major organizational commitment of time, money, and resources
⁃ small screen size
⁃ higher initial costs for design and development
⁃ format limitations
⁃ lower readability
• Informational
⁃ fast access or ability to compare data can be hindered by inadequate software or hardware
⁃ format limitations tend to lend themselves to short documents
⁃ can encourage readers to skim or skip long documents
⁃ some users may not have access to a terminal
⁃ if the system crashes or is down for maintenance information is unavailable
• Motivational
⁃ peering at a screen is difficult and tedious
⁃ users may be intimidated by the system or by the computer
⁃ some users may prefer a hard copy
✓ Page 376: Questions to ask when going in-line externally
On-line design considerations
• Visual ease
⁃ use small blocks of text
⁃ limit the number of colors on the page to two
⁃ limit highlighting and other visual cues for emphasis
⁃ use simple graphics
⁃ use lots of white space
• Ease of use
⁃ use hypertext or searches
• Clear operating instructions
⁃ indicate page, document, or file size on the screen
⁃ differentiate between "page" and "screen"
⁃ use a "continued" notation at the bottom of text
⁃ create screen headers and footers, and be sure to keep them simple
⁃ if not using hypertext, include information on how to find related information
Designing an on-line system
Because of the limited readability of a computer screen, certain design considerations exist. Formats of an on-paper design would most likely be different than from an on-line design. Keep in mind that a computer screen is harder to see and concentrate on than a piece of paper. Try do eliminate visual clutter and keep the reader's attention.
Four design factors to keep in mind:
1. Visual simplicity
2. Ease of use
3. Clear operating instructions
4. Adequate conversion of elements
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8 comments:
One more consideration should be the audience needs. For example, my work group is comprised of those who only want information via electronic means and those who insist on paper communication whenever changes are instituted. I think we all agree the electronic method is a better way to make sure everyone gets the same message at the same time, assuming we are all at work at the time of the email notification. Paper tends to get misplaced or buried yet for those workers who would rather have the paper,they can and do print out the emails.
Campbell's suggestions for keeping the screen readable but not cluttered are important points. If screens or pages are short of white space, sometimes the message gets overlooked or lost. I agree that no matter the method of communicating policy changes, clear and concise writing is still critical.
I agree with Joan that many people just want information communicated electronically. When it comes to communicating policies and any changes, electronically seems to be the fastest approach and one that tends to get read. In our company, almost all policy is communicated online through our company intranet. The thing that I think is cool they way they do it is to have our web browser page default to the company intranet home page where a summary of information appears. Any policy changes or additions are listed there as a hyperlink to the information page. If it is something especially important, the company will send out an e-mail about the policy and include the hyperlink to the page on the intranet that provides the information.
I believe that is more efficient because I know that important information communicated by paper or regular mail tends to not get read and reviewed as quickly as electronic. Personally, I tend to let mail from the company sit a few days before opening it, whereas I'm on my computer everyday and get that type of information immediately when communicated electronically.
As to people liking paper copies and finding them easier to read, why couldn't the intranet site add a print button where a person could, if they wished, to print out a paper copy of company policies? We used to do it when we published our yield books on CD. We always included a button where when pressed, gives the reader the option of printing out the entire yield book. I think that is a thoughtful alternative for folks who just don't like reading online information.
Obviously more and more things tend to be geared towards an online use and audience. There are many things that have become available online at my workplace but I feel that there is almost too many things there. I think my workplace tends to put just any form or document online and do not necessarily label an intended audience therefore you may find things for employees and administration on the same page which can be frustrating. I also think it's important to make things available on paper because like Campbell mentions, there are certain users who prefer to have things printed out and in front of them rather than just online.
There are a lot of advantages to having procedures and manuals available online. For one thing, procedures seem to change so often these days so it would be a horrible waste of paper to have to print a new copy each time changes are made. Having an electronic copy also offers ‘find’ options that you just wouldn’t have on paper (except using stickies or colored tags to mark things). Sometimes I still need to print out a page so that I can read the procedure while I’m performing the operation, although that has lessened now that I use dual monitors at work. At times I think 3 monitors would be nice – yikes!
One thing that I noticed in ENG 271 is that a web page shares many of the same characteristics as an actual physical document does as far as things such as whitespace, chunking, and colors go. But also, long text based web pages turn away readers even faster than paper because of the DPI that it is displayed on a screen. It often makes eyes tired and hurt compared to a paper document of the same length. Web pages are nice, but do have some limitations. My work, as Erik also mentioned, has been putting more and more documents online. Schedules, task sheets, and sick requests are now all online as compared to only a year ago where they were on paper. It's a hard transition at first.
At the moment, the company I work for relies heavily on verbal communication to teach new users how to use the computer system. It is NOT effective. Many times, new employees don't take notes and it effects their usability of the program because they don't have a manual to turn to if they have problems. When beginning my documentation I asked both my managers and did an extensive search of our "library" to find a instruction manual on how to use the inventory system and found one tiny little booklet that didn't give instructions, but only offered random bits of information about troubleshooting. I think our company would benefit highly from going on-line because it would decrease the amount of errors that occur simply because workers don't know how to use the computer system. Even a written manual would be helpful!
One thing that I've always liked about effective online documentation is the search feature. It is easier to find a specific bit of information because you can search for the word/topic and just click on the chapters that give information on it, rather than flipping back and forth from the index to the pages. I understand some of the disadvantages to online documentation, such as the incentive for users to skip long passages, because when it is laid out on the screen and you see that you are going to have to scroll down a lot, it is disconcerting. My suggestion for this, though, is to add links for additional information that the user can click on.
Everybody always seems to think at my job that going online is a great idea. We are converting our HR documents to the Intranet, along with other policies and procedures. However, it isn't always easy and our systems do crash. Also, we aren't always informed of changes since some of us don't have email. We have to rely on someone else to tell us verbally if there is a change in the Intranet system. Our Worpad system is okay for that, but we need to think about how we need to go forward in the future about taking everything from that online as well. It's also hard because so many people move from one job to the other, so they are going to need to create training manuals for formatting for future employees to handle the intranet site. Saving paper is always important, especially since we use so much of it on the job, but we just have to make sure everyone has an understanding of new policies and procedures.
I have a love hate relationship with digital documentation. I love the usability, the fact that it can be constantly updated, and can be accessed from almost anywhere in the world.
On the downside, a lot of people have trouble reading huge swaths of text off of a monitor, especially if the colors picked out are not complimentary. Some people feel black on white is bad; they haven't experience dark blue on black, or rainbow colors on anything. Luckily most people documenting things are smarter than that, with the possible exception of when it's time to make power points.
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