Assessing Use Complexity of Software: A Tool for Documentation Designers

Abstract

One way to support end users of software is to provide documentation materials such as user manuals and online Help. As not all software is equally difficult to master, documentation designers need to determine the quality and quantity of the information to be included in the user documentation. A first step towards this end would be to assess the complexity of the software from the user's point of view. This paper suggests one approach to such an assessment, based on the idea of use complexity as a multidimensional construct. A consideration of width, depth and height of use complexity can help designers determine documentation requirements.

Towards a framework for documentation design

“…Then, the degree to which a particular tool may affect goals and intentions is a major determinant of use complexity [11]. The CMA model shows that the further the software "reaches into" the activity, affecting not only operations but also the goals of actions or even the intention driving the activities, the more scope there is for goals and intentions becoming ill-defined and the stronger the Paradox of the Active User will be.…”