Abstract
We explore the use of abstracted screenshots as part of a new help interface. Graphstract, an implementation of a graphical help system, extends the ideas of textually oriented Minimal Manuals to the use of screenshots, allowing multiple small graphical elements to be shown in a limited space. This allows a user to get an overview of a complex sequential task as a whole. The ideas have been developed by three iterations of prototyping and evaluation. A user study shows that Graphstract helps users perform tasks faster on some but not all tasks. Due to their graphical nature, it is possible to construct Graphstracts automatically from pre-recorded interactions. A second study shows that automated capture and replay is a low-cost method for authoring Graphstracts, and the resultant help is as understandable as manually constructed help.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages | 203-212 |
Number of pages | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2007 |
Event | 20th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, UIST 2007 - Newport, RI, United States Duration: Oct 7 2007 → Oct 10 2007 |
Other
Other | 20th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, UIST 2007 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Newport, RI |
Period | 10/7/07 → 10/10/07 |
Keywords
- Graphical abstracts
- Minimal manuals
- Software help
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering