Content accessed online is often stripped of its hierarchical relationship to related content. Help articles must be encapsulated with metadata so that they can be understood when discovered or accessed out their original content repository. By embedding context within the the content object, the content will remain comprehensible even when accessed without the original information structure.

1. Presented by:
Edward Galore, University of Washington / Microsoft
David Farkas, University of Washington
Janet Galore, Microsoft
Mark Huentelman, Microsoft
Bruce Keever, Microsoft
Zherina Salamanca, University of Washington

2. A contemporary help scenario
 User searches
for “invitation
template”
 User is looking
for a way to
create an
invitation using
Word
2

3. This isn’t quite right...
But where to go next? 3

4. What we’ll cover
 The problem is discoverability
Traditional models of user assistance inhibit
discoverability for large online help systems
 Examples from Office Online
 Content-centric design
 Applications
 Conclusions
4the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

5. 5

6. The problem is discoverability
 The trick is getting the right content to the right
user at the right time, even when they don’t know
the right terms
 Site hierarchies are designed based on an
educated guess as to where the user will go
 Hierarchies don’t adapt to new content types and
unexpected user behavior
 We have good intentions and excellent content
 Every new feature requires new help content and
each help article dilutes discoverability
6the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

7. Coming in deep
7
Users often “come in deep”
and are lost without the
context provided on a
homepage they may never
see
Users do not always come
in through the “front door”
via a Web site’s
homepage
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

8. Example: external referrals to Office Online
 Over a 3-month period
 99M referrals (75%) were to the top 5 home pages
 24M referrals came to other pages and content
 6,502 different entry points
8
Entry pages
Numberofvisits
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

9. Invisible hierarchies
 Web sites are structured
according to a designer
imposed hierarchy
 Search technologies
obviate hierarchy and
decontextualize content
 Site architecture
becomes largely invisible
to site users
9the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions
?

10. Limits of traditional help system
Information Architecture
 Traditional help system IA:
 Is modeled on a hardcopy table of contents
 Tends towards linearity
 Is inadequate for large, complex products
 Ignores realities of continuous publishing
and user provided content and user tagging
10the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

11. Content needs context
 Search ignores hierarchy
 In the absence of an explicit hierarchy, other
methods must be employed to provide context
 Encapsulating context within content is content-
centric design
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 11

12. Content-centric design
 The primacy of Search is recognized
and supported
 Hierarchy becomes just another piece of
metadata
 Empowers users by allowing them to
validate content and forge new paths
among content
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 12

13. 13

14. What is Office Online?
Office Online is the broad
customer connection for Office.
It’s where Office customers go
to get help, software updates,
training, clip art,
templates, services, and more
Goals
 Increase customer
satisfaction
 Increase customer
productivity
 Increase revenue through
upgrades, sales, and
advertising
office.microsoft.com
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 14

15. How big is Office Online?
 Over 70M unique users per month worldwide
 In the top 30 sites on the Web (US unique users)
 48 markets, 34+ languages
 Over 800M page views per month worldwide
 Supports over 25 Office branded products
 Over 150,000 clips, 1.2M help articles, 4300 templates, 150
training courses, 87 homepages, and more
 Over 250 writers, editors, site managers, production engineers,
localization engineers
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 15

16. Who uses Office Online?
Globally, the majority of Office Online users are from business segments.
12%
4%
16%
20%
48%
IT Professional
Developer
Business Decision Maker
Information Worker
Home User
Source: Office Online worldwide customer satisfaction survey, 2005
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 16

17. Continuous publishing on Office
Online
Publish
Collect ratings
and feedback
Revise
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 17

18. Customer ratings and comments on
articles
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 18

19. Context mismatch: “near miss”
 Users often almost find the content they are
looking for
 Near misses represent one of 5 types of context
mismatches, right idea but:
 Wrong application/version
 Wrong user intent
 Wrong user type
 Wrong terminology
 Wrong language
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 19

20. Context mismatch: wrong
application
A topic may satisfy the
user’s intent, but may not
match the application
about which the user has
a question
Scenario:
•User searches all Office
Online to find “how to
make an invitation”
•A topic for MS Publisher
comes up first, along with
some templates in Word
•User clicks on first topic,
not thinking about the
application
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 20

21. Context mismatch: wrong
application
 The user does not notice
the visual cues about
what application the topic
applies to
 There are no links to find
similar content for a
different application
 The user clicks on “No”
and writes a verbatim
comment
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 21

22. Context mismatch: wrong
application
invitation templates in Word
I don't have Publisher. I need to do this in Word, Works or Power Point
something in word or powerpoint
invitation cards in word
how i can make invation in word processor
Which FILE/NEW am I opening? Am I opening this in WORD or in the
Microsoft office assistance area or in a different application?
I'd like to know how to create a quarter fold invitation in word
On WHICH file menu do I click new??? Word??? If so, there is no 'New
Publication' under file in Word.
The writer examines customer verbatim feedback on that topic to dig deeper
Many users are not looking for Publisher help
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 22

23. Context mismatch: wrong application
 Possible remedies
 Create similar topics for other applications
 Create a general “invitation” topic that talks
about multiple applications
 Create search “best bets” for this query
 Include links to similar topics in the “see
also” area of the Publisher topic
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 23

24. Context mismatch: user intent
 A topic may look like the answer the
user is looking for, but the topic does not
satisfy the user’s intent
 Symptom: Frequently failed search
query “signature” led to deep analysis of
existing “signature” topics
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 24

25. Context mismatch: user intent
Scenario
 User searches on “digital
signature”
 User intent: A visual
representation of their signature
in a document
 Top search results:
 Digitally sign a file
 Insert a picture
 Create a signature for
messages
 User action: Clicks on first result
but finds it’s not what they want
 Marks the topic as “No” and
leaves negative comments
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 25

26. Context mismatch: user intent
how do I insert a scanned image of my signature?
wrong kind of signature. I didn't word question properly. I'm looking for
signatures for Outlook emails
I want to find something like Word Perfect has with "Quick Words" where I can
have the closing of a letter and a scanned picture of the person's signature
after "Sincerely".
how do I add a written signature (name) to a document?
How do I insert a penned signature?
I want to add a hand-written signature so that I can send a document without
printing it and signing it and then scanning it so that I can send it.
HOW TO ADD MY PERSONAL HANDWRITTEN SIGNATURE TO MY
LETTERS
how can I use my actual written signature
Selected verbatim comments reveal some users’ intent
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 26

27. Context mismatch: user intent
Possible remedies
 Modify the “insert picture” topic so that it also mentions that inserting a picture
can be used for adding a visual signature
 Add a link to the “insert picture” topic from the “digital signature” topic
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 27

28. Context mismatch: user type
 One writing style or approach does not work for all
users
 Office Online serves primarily information workers,
but all audiences come to the site
 There are different content types for different
purposes and learning styles (help topics, training
courses, videos, etc.)
 Investigate if users might identify themselves in
their verbatim comments, and if there is user
mismatch happening
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 28

29. Just a few types of users...
access expert
administrative assistant
amateur
aspiring web page designer
audio learner
baby boomer
beginner user
big computer freak
biochemistry instructor
blind computer user
branch chief
brand new FrontPage 2003 user
brand new user
business owner
case manager
certified applications instructor
chef
disabled user
disabled veteran
doctor
dyslexic
experienced user
faculty member
first time user
freelance editor
gas service engineer
genius
good VB programmer
grandmother
graphic artist
hair dresser
hands on learner
knuckle head
lawyer
legal secretary
librarian
licensed minister
luddite
Mac person
mainframe programmer
manual laborer
slow learner
small business owner
social worker
software test engineer
special education student
student
system administrator
teacher
total beginner
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 29

30. Context mismatch: user type
Example comments
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 30
I am a .NET software developer and I would like the reminder to display whether or
not I have my window focused on Outlook.
I am a new internet user & I have no idea what Certification or signing & encrypting
e-mail means. I wish these things could be explained more simply or example given
so that people like myself could understand
I am a Spanish girl living in Germany and the language of my Excel is English.
Where could I find an overview of the functions in excel in several languages?
I am a small business owner and I love programming functions in Excel to make
my jobs easier to manage. This has been rather educational. Thank you!
This course has been extremely helpful as I am a novice.

31. Context mismatch: user type
 Possible remedies
 Consider tagging content by audience type
 Have clear destinations for different
audiences
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 31

32. 32

33. Apples and oranges
 When developing content
taxonomies, designers
create “buckets,” categories
to store content
 Apples go in the apple
bucket, oranges go in the
orange bucket
 Great! A time and place for
everything under heaven
33
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

34. Bananas
 Expect the unexpected
 New, unanticipated
content types are
constantly being
generated
 We need dynamic site
architecture to
accommodate dynamic
help content
34
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

35. What are bananas, anyway?
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
35
If only user assistance
content were as
orderly…
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

36. Three stages of design philosophy
 Rational design (designer centered)
 User centered
 Content-centric
36the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

37. Rational design
 Designer knows best
 Rational, not empirical,
design methods
 Design optimized for
the system rather than
the user—usability is
secondary
 Finite pathways
37the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

38. User centered design
 User is incorporated
into the design
 Task oriented
 Benefits from
empirical studies of
user behavior
 Design for typical
users
38the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

39. Limitations of user centered design
 Task or transaction oriented
 Assumes finite number of user actions
 Doesn’t necessarily account for dynamic
content
 Employs a top-down approach based on
anticipated user behavior
39the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

40. Content-centric design
 The content-centric approach does not imply that UCD is no
longer valid
 On the contrary, it assumes that user input is invaluable, so
much so that content should adapt to user needs
dynamically
 Web sites are forever changing: new content is being added
continuously
 Every new piece of content challenges the existing
structure—content-centric design is adaptive to users and
content
40the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

41. 41

42. Applying content-centric design
 How might content-centric design
improve the experience for a user
wanting to edit a comment in MS Word?
 Relate content and provide context non-
hierarchically
 Aggregate and incorporate user feedback
dynamically
 Provide multiple contexts for See Also—
“Near misses”—including visual context
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 42

43. Current UI: hierarchical
breadcrumbs
 Breadcrumbs give the user context in terms of
where they are in the system’s information
architecture
 But breadcrumbs reflect the designer’s—not the
user’s—perspective of the site
43the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

44. Current UI: hierarchical breadcrumbs
 Context provided via typical “breadcrumbs” only shows
system’s linear, hierarchical path to the article
 Do not show the user’s actual path
 In order for users to see where they’ve been, they must
use the back button
 Users do this because on the Web, as in real life, a
sound way to discover where you are is to see where
you’ve been
44
Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information >
With Other People > Comments
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions
Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information >
With Other People > Comments
Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information >
With Other People > Comments
Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information >
With Other People > Comments
Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information >
With Other People > Comments
Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information >
With Other People > Comments
Home > Products > Excel > Excel 2003 Help and How-to > Sharing Information >
With Other People > Comments

45. Content-centric UI: My Path
45
 Pathways users take
to article are unique
and reflected in UI as
My Path
 User can trace their
navigation pattern
without using the
Back button
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

46. My Path: “real” breadcrumbs
46
My Path reflects the user’s actual,
non-hierarchical path to the article.
My Path: Home > Search All Office Online “edit a comment” > Edit a comment
(Excel 2003) > Modify a comment (Word 2003)
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

47. Current UI: Article rating
 Users can give input as to whether the article was
what they were looking for or not
47the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

48. Content-centric UI: User suggested
articles
 Related article
suggestions can
dynamically populate
according to user
behavior and feedback
48the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

49. Current UI: See Also
 See Also boxes appear in
some articles, providing
suggestions for related
content
49the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions

50. Content-centric UI: More related content
Two new ways to
show related
content:
 Related Search
Results provide
limited context
through text
 A Visual Map can
use graphics to
help the user
visualize how
content is related
50

51. Visual map: vector based navigation
 Tags for the topic are
shown as “vectors” to
additional content
 Tag vectors could be color
coded
 Vectors could reflect
customer provided tags,
aggregated user behavior,
or categories as assigned
by content authors, or all
three
the problem | office online | content-centric design | applications | conclusions 51
Edit a
comment
Excel
Modify a
comment
Word
Application
Format a
comment
Intent
Change a
comment
Term
Field Codes:
Comment
Field
IT Pro
User Type
Editieren
von Bemerkung
Language

52. This Slide Intentionally Left Blank
52

53. 53

54. Conclusions
 Users don’t always use the front door,
prepare for their arrival by other means
 If you want content to be discoverable:
 Make search work
 Make it easier to get to content from a related
topic
 Don’t create the perfect taxonomy, allow it to
evolve
the problem | content-centric design | office online | applications | conclusions 54

55. Conclusions
 In the absence of an explicit hierarchy, other
methods must be employed to provide context
 Hierarchies are just another type of metadata,
not always a meaningful navigation tool for
users
 When content authors and users add new
content, they also indirectly affect information
architecture
the problem | content-centric design | office online | applications | conclusions 55

56. 56