Interaction with user documentation: a preliminary study

Abstract

An exploratory study was conducted into the interaction with documentation displayed by users of an unknown software tool. Five adult men were observed during their work with a software simulation of a fictitious machine for the production of liquorice. Their only source of information on the machine's functioning was its printed user manual. The log data from the observations was analyzed with a view to pinpointing interesting patterns of behaviour that deserve further, more formal, research.