User Support
User Support is the seventeenth law of interface design: The interface will provide additional assistance as needed or requested.
Human Factors
Users expect some kind of support or assistance. In a traditional human factors approach, this support—training, help systems, or help desks—is part of the interface. Although people like to have support available when it is needed, they do not like to get help when they haven't asked for any.
Technology Considerations and Implications
Many speech applications are used on machines and in settings that are different from the usual desktop setting. This means that some of the traditional ways of providing support (help messages on a screen, user documentation, or calling a help desk) are unavailable or inappropriate. Most assistance must be built into the application, both in terms of increased design and usability, as well as prompts, cues, and error correction.
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