Assistance
Provide multiple levels of user assistance

hover helpProvide several levels of assistance appropriate to the complexity of the object. Simple cues and reminders can be provided through hover help balloons that appear near the pointer when it pauses over a control for a brief period. The RealPhone uses hover help to identify the function of the control and to tell the user the keyboard equivalent. A pointer-based Help tool can also be used to provide this first level of assistance.

An approach resembling cue cards can be provided for the next level of explanation which should address the role of the control or object in accomplishing tasks.

Cue cards can be extendable to address to the third level which is how to information. This information should provide step-by-step instructions for a typical case along with an example.

The highest level of assistance is conceptual. Here you should provide an overview of the object's role, functions, and relationships with other objects. A section in the object's Properties Notebook is an appropriate place for this material.

Provide hints and tips to help users achieve efficient and productive usage quickly. The Properties Notebook is a good place to provide this material also. The contents of Properties Notebooks should also be presented in real-world form, not in traditional GUI form.

From each level of assistance, getting to the next level should be obvious and easy. For example, the cue card might have a button that expands it to include how-to information, and another button that displays the Properties Notebook opened to the concepts section.