Objective: Provide Help and Support
Description
Support different ways of understanding content. Provide extra help and support such as:
- graphics,
- summaries of long documents,
- icons with headings and links, and
- alternatives for numbers.
Explain choices to help the user successfully complete their tasks.
Make it easy for users get help when they run into difficulties and give feedback. If users have difficulty sending feedback, they cannot tell you if they are unable to use the content. You will not know when they are experiencing problems.
Some applications depend on user data, such as smart cities. Data from users who cannot use the system can be missing from data driven systems. The problem is worse when they cannot even give feedback about their problems. They become invisible and their needs are not met.
Design Patterns for this Objective
- Provide Human Help
- Provide Alternative Content for Complex Information and Tasks
- Clearly State the Results and Disadvantages of Actions, Options, and Selections
- Provide Help for Forms and Non-standard Controls
- Make It Easy to Find Help and Give Feedback
- Provide Help with Directions
- Provide Reminders