Design Specifications and Guidelines - User Assistance

Reference Help

Reference Help serves as an online reference book. You can use reference Help to document a programming language or programming interfaces. Reference Help can also be used to provide a user's guide to a product. The use determines the balance of text and graphics in the reference Help file.

Reference-oriented documentation typically includes more text and follows a consistent presentation of information, as shown in Figure 13.9.

Figure 13.9 Sample reference Help text

Although the reference Help style can provide information similar to that in contextual and procedural Help, these forms of Help do not exclude each other. Often the combination of all three provides the best help for the user.

Fundamentals of Designing User Interaction

Windows Interface Components

Design Specifications and Guidelines

Appendixes and References