User-education Guidelines for Mobile Terminals and E-services Martin Böcker, Michael Tate, Margareta Flygt, Pascale Parodi, Bruno von Niman, Matthias Schneider-Hufschmidt, David Williams, Pekka Ketola (ETSI STF 285)

Overview Why User Guides matter Who needs them When are they needed Current problems and practice Minimum quality standards proposed by ETSI STF 285 Scope and Examples Outlook

The general image…

Why user guides matter to the consumer They are a part of the overall user experience They contribute to the users perception of the product quality They help the user discover and understand new functions Like the product itself they are designed according to user needs

They are one of the means for expressing brand values and messages A function that is not known or understood will not generate ARPU They are required (legal and regulatory requirements) Why user guides matter to the manufacturer

Who needs them No need for user guides if the UI is sufficiently self explanatory Yes, but mobile ICT products: are highly complex are difficult to set up have miniaturized input and output devices become even smaller even if screen resolution increases evolve fast are used by non experts

Who needs them? No need for user guides if the UI is sufficiently self explanatory Yes, but mobile ICT products: UI concepts are inadequately borrowed from PCs They interact with PCs and other devices (e.g. for synchronization) Many feature concepts arent understood Services are often presented seamlessly The source of errors (device, service, network) is often unclear

Who needs them? Users are heterogeneous Previous knowledge about features and UI concepts differs They range from power users to one-feature-only users Users differ in their cultural background, but use ICT products that are produced for a global market without large differences Users differ in their physical and psychological needs and abilities (e.g. immigrants with limited local-language skills, low-literacy users, elderly or handicapped users)

When is user education needed? User education is needed throughout the product life cycle

Wider problem context Some typical problems users have: Users fail to set up their device Users dont know about their personal subscription User guides are needed in first-time set up and in error situations Some features (e.g. Call Forwarding) are complex and have consequences Little or no information available on tariffing for services

Wider problem context Problems with current user guidance: User guide is incomplete The information cannot be found The language used is inadequate The structure of the guide is inadequate The explanation is too abstract The user guide is written without a specific user in mind The information cannot be perceived adequately The functionality or SW implementation is not frozen at the time the user guide has to be completed The technical writer describes a product s/he doesnt really know

Cost-benefit trade-offs Some relevant cost-benefit trade-offs related to providing user education are: Frustration with failure to fully being able to use a product leads to reduced ARPU and low brand loyalty Insufficient user education can lead to costs in customer care centres Written user guides are often not up to date at time of print Sometimes even the product is out of date at time of shipping (SW updates) Products are sent in as faulty because users dont understand how they work

Current practice In spite of cost-benefit trade-offs: Cheapest, minimum effort solutions Very small fonts for cost saving Symbols to save space for text and costs for translating Reduced volume to save paper and reduce box sizes Wrong assumptions about what the users know User-guide related activities are outsourced No effort spent of user education for handicapped users Too little time for adjusting user guides to product changes Not all procedures are mentioned in detail Functions are described without preconditions Usability tests of user guides are the exceptions Same text different target groups and products

STF 285 The European Commission (EC), as part of the eEurope initiative, commissioned ETSI to develop guidelines for improving user education. STF 285 is to address: The definition of a minimum standard for user guides. Guidelines for user education using different media. User education for elderly and impaired users. The evaluation of user education.

STF 285 The deliverable ETSI DEG covers: An analysis of the role of user education for ICT products Generic (media-independent) guidelines Specific guidelines for paper-based user guides for terminal-based user guides for screen-based user guides for user guides on portable media for audio user guides Other ways of providing user education User education and design for all Usability evaluation of user guidance

Which media for which users / products / situations? Life cycle: Pre- purchase Life cycle: Purchase Life cycle: Ownership Life cycle: Replacement Mobility Ease of updating Completeness Use of Animations Flexibility Interactivity Pro-activeness (push) Promptness of response Support of hard-of- hearing / deaf users Support of visually- impaired / blind users Support of low- literacy users Controlled by manufacturer Paper-based UG SID Web-based UG UG on CD-ROM Audio Call centre staff User groups and fora Avatars Point of sales staff Friends and family

Media-independent guidelines Requirements of the development process Content and structure Content Management Systems (CMS) Language and terminology Illustrations Localisation General customer requirements

Media-independent guidelines Localization – includes language and culture Terminology – use simple and clear, consistent language, industry- standard and user-friendly terms (invisible, intuitive, logical in its context, easy to understand, avoid jargon or abbreviations) Lay-out – simple and clear Illustrations – as information bearer Information structure - consistent

Media-independent guidelines

Paper-based user guides Format and layout Formal structure Consistency and logical structure Main and secondary guides Legal and regulatory requirements The printing process

Paper-based user guides Product description – not how it works, but how to use it! Safety information Getting started Troubleshooting Maintenance & service Recycling & disposal If not complete – where can you find more information

Terminal-based user guides (Support in the Device) Support in the device is available in many forms: Help texts Demonstrations Interactive tutors / avatars Tips Setup / configuration wizards

Screen / Web-based user guides Advantages Content can be updated in real time Text can be read in the dark Text can be searched for easily Text can be varied in size for partially sighted users The reader can be automatically led through the text The screen can be interactive Disadvantages Everyone can read a book Computers are not always available for use Computers are not always connected to the web Computers are normally in a fixed location Prolonged reading can produce eye strain Readers scan information rather than read in a linear fashion as they do with text

Screen / Web-based user guides

Screen / Web-based user guides

Other ways of providing user education User guides on CD-ROM Audio user guides User groups and fora

User education and Design for All User education for Elderly users Visually-impaired users Hearing-impaired users Users with cognitive impairments Low literacy users Users with communication impairments Children

Usability evaluation of user guides Issues addressed Method Test sample Questionnaires Analysis Reporting Focussing on the specific requirements of testing user guides

Outlook ETSI DEG is available as a stable draft and will be finalised in May 2006 and published in September Prior to publication, the document is reviewed with experts from industry and academia.

Thank you for your attention