Our post about how Microsoft is changing its writing style (Microsoft moves away from “robot speak” in its user documentation) generated a lot of interest, so I thought it might be useful to post some examples of it that we’ve spotted. These examples are from Office 365 Premium Edition.
Tag: help
Changing times in technical communication 3 – The long form Help topic
One of the most recent developments in web page design has been the introduction of “long form” web pages. Will we also see the long form approach used in Help, or perhaps start to influence the way some Help pages are designed?
Google adds conversational search-by-voice to Chrome’s Help
Google has updated Chrome in build 27 to include conversational voice search, and this feature extends to the Help pages. According to TechCrunch, it transcribes your queries in real time. It also lets you use natural language, asking Google straightforward questions and getting straightforward answers, both read back to you by dictation and in actual… Read more »
Does looking at online Help make users forget?
Over the weekend, Dr Chris Atherton suggested I look at “the doorway effect”. You may well have experienced walking through a doorway and then finding you’d forgotten why you’d stood up in the first place. Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have discovered your brain is not to blame for your confusion about what you’re doing in… Read more »
Introducing the Head Up Display. Say hello to the future of the menu
The Ubuntu operating system is to replace its application menus with a “head-up display” (HUD) box. According to Mark Shuttleworth, Lead design and product strategy person at the company behind Ubuntu: We can search through everything we know about the menu, including descriptive help text, so pretty soon you will be able to find a… Read more »