Editorial: September 26, 1996

Sometimes we become so enamored of a good idea that we start to apply it indiscriminately. That's particularly true in high technology, where it's easy and tempting to expand nifty features beyond their value. Take on-line documentation, for example.

On-line documentation can be great. Something you're working with on the screen puzzles you. Click, and a help screen pops up. If the help screen is context-sensitive, it's already showing you the information you need. Otherwise, it's an easy search to find your answer.

Good idea. No need to track down the manual, which probably is buried in someone's cube.

You can carry a good idea too far, however. In my recent design project, I encountered software-development tools that had extended on-line help to become the sole documentation. Although that sounds like it should be even better than simple help files, the overextension created new problems.

I knew almost nothing about the tools. As a complete newbie, I had no idea where to start. Context-sensitive help files don't help when there's no context. So, I found myself reading screen after screen until my eyes hurt, trying to learn the basics. For random access, electronic text is great. When there's a lot to read, the printed page is kinder to the body.

The on-screen reference information also got in the way of the application. When I did locate a tutorial, I found myself continually moving the help window around so I could see the control buttons that the tutorial referenced.

Use caution when extending a clever new technology or approach to old problems. Just because the new approach works better in one situation, doesn't mean it works better in all situations. My old chemistry professor used to warn us "if a little's good, a whole lot's better." It doesn't always apply.

Richard A Quinnell
Technical Editor