Ask HN: Should I write a Help menu for my application?

#1

Post by tentacleuno » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 11:37 AM UTC

With desktop software you used to get a Help menu which contains instructions on how to use the program and where everyone is. Now I notice these days software makers don't really bother with these menu's, especially not web or mobile software.

Should I make one or would I just be wasting my time? Have we as a society moved on from Help menus?

Re: Ask HN: Should I write a Help menu for my application?

#2

Post by ponyous » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 1:03 PM UTC

You don't need it, but you need to educate users. Help menus are just one way of doing so.

Re: Ask HN: Should I write a Help menu for my application?

#3

Post by forgotmypw17 » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 1:56 PM UTC

Help is what users go to when they have an objective and don’t know how to do it.

I would list most common objectives and clear steps to accomplishing them

Re: Ask HN: Should I write a Help menu for my application?

#4

Post by toast0 » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

Writing Help will discourage you from changing the UI much, because you'll need to update the documentation. That's probably a good thing, but if you had some UI changes coming up, you might want to do those first.

Also, even if people don't read Help much (and it makes sense that they've lost the skill because there's so often no Help now), it's a text you can refer to elsewhere.

Re: Ask HN: Should I write a Help menu for my application?

#5

Post by zzo38computer » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 6:51 PM UTC

You should include documentation with your software. Too many modern programs lack sufficient documentation, and that makes them difficult to use.

Re: Ask HN: Should I write a Help menu for my application?

#6

Post by jackfruit2 » Mon, Mar 14, 2022, 5:56 AM UTC

For my application I'm thinking of serving the help online on my website. It's an opportunity to gain more traffic, thus another opportunity to sell more products.

Re: Ask HN: Should I write a Help menu for my application?

#7

Post by tentacleuno » Tue, Mar 15, 2022, 11:03 AM UTC

Thanks for the replies, guys :) I think with this in mind I'll write some documentation. My plan right now is to write them in Markdown, then bundle them alongside the app in /help/{...}.html or something.