Abstract: A technique to determine end-users' perception of the documentation of a system can help documenters understand users' needs. Documenters can reflect this understanding in their documentation design, thereby increasing communication between designers and users. This study investigates the use of critical incidents as a mechanism to collect end-user reactions to software documentation, the presentation of this information to systems designers, and the effectiveness of critical incidents as a tool in an iterative process of online and hardcopy documentation design. The principle purpose of this study was the development and validation of critical incidents as an effective tool for the incorporation of end-user feedback into the simultaneous design and evaluation of both online and hardcopy documentation.

Keywords: Critical incidents; Documentation; Empirical studies; Evaluation; Software development; Software evaluation tools

Originally published: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 30th Annual Meeting, 1986, pp. 19-23

Republished: G. Perlman, G. K. Green, & M. S. Wogalter (Eds.) Human Factors Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction: Selections from Proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meetings, 1983-1994, Santa Monica, CA: HFES, 1995, pp. 38-42.