MINIMALIST COMPUTER DOCUMENTATION - Universiteit Twente

THE MINIMAL MANUAL: IS LESS REALLY MORE?
Vanderlinden, Cocklin & McKita, 1988). The use of a minimal manual
reduced the learning time with approximately 40% in all these studies. It also
cut down the time to complete performance tests and it significantly increased
the retention of skills.
However, whether a minimal manual will yield similar results in other than
'standard' circumstances is yet unknown. Most studies have focused on
American novices learning to use a word processor. Whether a minimal
manual is equally effective for different audiences is not yet clear. For
example, experienced users might be unsettled by routines they have adopted
from other programs. Consequently, their information needs might best be met
by a manual that impedes this negative transfer by comparing the new
program with other software packages and computer systems. A related
question is whether the minimalists' emphasis on learning by doing fits users
from other cultures. In fact, it has been argued that users with a conceptual,
function-oriented orientation toward learning are unlikely to benefit from the
minimalist approach (Aizu & Amemiya, 1985; Warren, 1994).
In addition, little is known about the functionality of minimalism for
different programs. Until the 1990s, most experiments were performed with
line-editors which were so user-unfriendly that the tutorial, in a way, had to
make up for the weaknesses of the program. Since the art of designing userfriendly
software has improved during recent years, minimalism might not
yield the same benefits in learning to use a modern full-screen word processor.
In similar fashion, one might question its suitability in domains other than
word processing. For example, is minimalism also applicable in highly
complex or dangerous task domains like welding, radiotherapy, or
cranedriving?
From a practical viewpoint, little evidence exists that the effect of a
minimal manual can indeed be generalized to other audiences and software
packages. When this research project started in september 1990, European
research on minimalism was scant (cf. Carroll, 1994). Although some studies
examined features of user documentation that can also be found in a minimal
manual (e.g., Frese et al., 1988; Oatley, Meldrum & Draper, 1991; Wendel &
Frese, 1987), the effectiveness of the minimalist approach as a whole had not
yet been established. This notion provides a challenge for research on
minimalist documentation. It also served as a starting point for the present
inquiries into the functionality of the minimalist approach.
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