Online Help System for Document Scanning and Assembly Software
Need
A high-tech printer manufacturer required online help for an enterprise software application that enables users to assemble and print documents from a set of scanned document images and Adobe PDF files. The software application, a content management system, comprised a suite of 10 software programs with a database backend. The individual software programs in the suite required their own online help programs.
Solution
D+A created online Windows Help and WebHelp systems, as well as context-sensitive help, for the software application. The help systems were subsequently updated in conjunction with the launch of new software versions.
Success Factors
Key success factors were:
Working with subject matter experts for the software’s various interacting components to determine all the possible help topics and develop an integrated help system covering all components
Working with programmers to ensure the online help system worked effectively with each new build of the development software, the launch software, and subsequent software patches
D+A participation in weekly software developments meetings to collect and make required updates and changes to the online help system resulting from software testing
Consistency of availability for the same developers to perform online help updates for each new software version over a period of years
Delivery with aggressive timeframes
Result
The customer achieved these results:
Easy-to-use, comprehensive online help system for the software application
Comprehensive context-sensitive help providing an explanation to the user of all fields in each software dialog
Periodic updates of the online help system in conjunction with new version launches and software patches
