The Effectiveness of Online Help Systems: Text Only, Animated Images Only, and Integrated

This experiment examined the effectiveness of three online help systems: text only, animated images only, and integrated interactive. The three help systems were implemented for the software application PhotoFinder developed by the University of Maryland HCIL (Human Computer Interaction Lab). Each help system was tested with ten different subjects. All subjects were given the same tasks to complete. We hypothesized that of the three help systems the integrated interactive help would improve a user's performance of completing a task the most. We also evaluated subjects preferences of help systems. Results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in users performance of completing a task between the three different kinds of online help.