Jing,

Many thanks for taking the time to offer your input. I was rather hoping that my “prod” about the "Help Desk" would evoke some response. It is only through open debate that we will eventually "harden" the best approach to training and assisting users, something which has huge potential productivity improvements.

I should point out that I am something of a "hybrid" in the sense that I work in the IT industry now but that is not my original background. I am only too familiar with the problem of getting people to consult "help", for example design procedures in the engineering world. There the consequences can be quite serious.

I can even identify myself with the "only as a last resort consult help" syndrome. So I don't realistically expect the average user to be any different. In my own experience one of the major reasons that users avoid the "help system" is because they need a "help system" to teach them how to use the "help system". That doesn't tend to faze the typical IT person because we know the right terminology to use.

You are absolutely correct regarding the "hunt and peck" approach of the average user, usually in a high state of frustration. It is interesting to note that when I am teaching if I show people how to use the existing help system somewhat effectively, it as if somebody "turned the lights on". Not only do they suddenly realize that very often the answer to their problem is right there in their own hands but that help provides an opportunity to learn a different, and possibly easier, way to do things. I assume that people are not inherently lazy but lack for someone to show them how they can achieve a measure of self reliance.

I have taught at a number of different places, and in practically all, little or no time is allocated to teaching people how to use help effectively. I take that upon myself because I consider it to be essential. Too much emphasis is often placed on trying to teach people almost every conceivable way to use a product, most of which they don’t need and instantly forget, or don’t practice if they do need it. Regardless of the “required” class material, I teach people at the most only “two” ways (often only one way) to do something, admittedly the ones that I consider to be the easiest to both do and remember. If there is a problem with Office there are too many different ways to do things, which is good for the sophisticated user but confusing as all hell for the average person.

Realistically I don't expect people to leave my class and suddenly use help on a regular basis. However, the next time that I see them I ask if they have used help since the last class. In about 15% of the cases they have, and feel much more confident about solving their own problems. Often their overall interest level goes up as well. It is no longer so much of a “mystery”. They may be there because their company says they have to be there but it is now not so much of a chore. They are beginning to feel “empowered” and now see their new found competence as a career advantage. It is catching. Others in the class notice this and don’t want to be left behind!

When I ask them about using their Help Desk, very often they are frustrated by being "queued" or trying to follow instructions over the phone. Even if the Help Desk uses some remote control system they still complain about the difficulty of following what they are being shown. There is still a “disconnection”. If the Help Desk people end up physically going to the user (assuming that they can), that is hardly very efficient.

Self reliance is the only true solution to pretty much anything that we do. Then we feel in control. That is a basic human instinct. I beleive that the Help Desk is a symptom of a problem; not the solution to a problem. For example, when I was an IT Director printing problems were a constant Help Desk request, and probably still are. This is usually a technology problem and not a “which button do I press” question. Typically, you get the “keep clicking the button” syndrome in the hope that it works. Since it is usually a technology problem, we need a technology solution with feedback to the user, ie. “please don’t keep clicking the button – you are having a problem because……..”.

Let’s face it current help systems are definitely not user friendly, and that is not confined to Microsoft products by any means. They rely too much on knowing what you are looking for. Perhaps that’s what’s also wrong with going to the grocery store for some of us as well, especially if we want a quick in and out with no frustrating lineup. That’s a problem looking for a technology solution; not necessarily an “I hate grocery stores problem”.

For example, many stores are now experimenting with RFID technology. Who needs the checkout person if I can checkout and pay quickly myself? In time we won’t even need to ask where things are because we can easily find them ourselves because of technology, even if they get moved! We will even be able to find out more about the product if we wish without asking.

As you rightly pointed out people recognize the necessary evil of going to the grocery store in order to feed themselves. The stores are trying to accommodate that, and probably save themselves some money at the same time. Have you been to Home Depot lately? They don’t use RFID yet but now have some self-checkout facilities with visual and voice guided help, and many people love it! They feel in control!

Being self-reliant at the computer is no different than going to the grocery store. For some people, it will always be a necessary evil; now a totally pervasive evil. It isn’t going away, just like the need to feed ourselves, and users need to recognize that in order to feed themselves at the grocery store :)! To date help systems have suffered for 2 main reasons:

1. Insufficient time/effort/money is put in. It is usually the poor orphan in a software development project along with user documentation. By the time it gets additional attention the users are disillusioned.
2. A technology breakthrough is needed to permit the user to be largely self-reliant without major effort or training.

I do not wish to suggest that we are even remotely there yet but I sense a greater urgency and commitment to try and move in the right direction. It has the potential to be a very important market differentiator combined with improvements in the user interface. Will the Help Desk totally disappear? Likely not in the foreseeable future but it might be substantially reduced in both complement and cost.

There are of course social implications behind technology change which will eventually affect us all; witness even the changes in job requirements and demographics over the past 20 years. Regardless, it will still “march on” probably at an increasing pace likely bringing some very difficult social issues. Unfortunately, commerce and “social conscience” rarely meet. I hope that in time they will get closer together. Although we perhaps don’t think about it on a daily basis, right now we are going through a major restructuring of the workplace and hence society. To make that as palatable as possible we need to try and think “outside the box”.

Cheers
Graham Jones

Stephen,

I would be happy to look into the possibilty of creating a CIM based help centre. If I cannot answer the question immediately myself (the ultimate 'oracle' I don't claim to be), I am willing to try and find an answer, hopefully with assistance from Microsoft where necessary :).

Cheers
Graham Jones

Stephen,

Item 1) My research suggests that although this is not possible right now, it is expected by RTM that as a minimum you will be able to import from the Vista Windows Mail store, and possibly even update it. Perhaps someone could confirm, or deny, my findings.

Item 2) You are correct the dialogue box for RDC is different in Vista than it is in XP. However, I believe that the answer to your question is that in Vista you have to enter a FQDN, eg. computer.domain.com, in the single box where it says 'Computer'. In XP the computer name (computer) and domain name (domain.com) are separate. Again, perhaps someone could confirm that my analysis is correct.

Cheers
Graham