Comments on: Reader Question: Creating Online Help for Touch-Screen Applications?

By: Natalie James

Natalie James — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:36:23 +0000

Worthwhile internet page and interesting post. I love piano a lot. I’ve marked it to return later. If at first you don’t succeed-skydiving is not for you

By: yonna

yonna — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:04:52 +0000

hi i have a rocada xphone nd i dont know how to add apps on my phone

By: raghavendra

raghavendra — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:52:47 +0000

HI friend,

Can u please solve my problem.Touchscreen application implemented in the K Desktop how did he do this without any touchscreen he has done this by using only normal monitor

By: Mike Hamilton

Mike Hamilton — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:03:28 +0000

Hi Ed,
By oversizing clickable elements I was specifically thinking of the user interface elements on the top toolbar in addition to the normal left pane navigation elements. This also applies to in topic elements as well. As authors we may take for granted the ease with which we can create a hyperlink from existing text on the page, however in a touch environment it would likely be better to create an oversize graphical button that is easy to select with a finger and use that as the entry point to the hyperlink. The bottom line is that any user interaction has to be examined in the context of a touch environment before you use it in such a system.

I hope that helps,
Mike

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:00:21 +0000

Mike, I was wondering if you can expand on oversizing clickable elements in Flare? I’m working with touch screen help as well (with full size monitors), and I mainly, as you suggested, increased the fonts and padding. The search field I erased entirely.

Additionally, I created a custom skin with much larger buttons.

By: Karol

Karol — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:17:08 +0000

It’s a very interesting subject! I know it is not the case, but I wonder if anyone out there tried to think different way and, for example integrate recorded voice instructions with on-screen animations/images etc. You lose the single-sourcing idea (though animations can be reused on the company’s tech-support website), but you add attractiveness to your product and free your deliverable from the responsive area dimension restriction.

By: tsgee

tsgee — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:25:26 +0000

Big or small what matters most is the apps for all the funtions to intgrate and help the users. wish everythin could be easy for all

tsgees last blog post..Touch screen piano a freeware

By: Mike Hamilton

Mike Hamilton — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:54:45 +0000

I really can’t imagine doing something for a small screen like a phone. My comments above were based on work I had done with a hardware manufacturer supplying equipment to the semiconductor fab industry and the equipment had a full size 15 inch 1024×768 resolution touch screen built right in. This touch screen was the control interface for the hardware. One of the challenges of a clean room environment is that no paper is allowed so WebHelp was used to display all of the equipment operating instructions and maintenance procedures via the touch screen.

By: Lisha Li

Lisha Li — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:54:36 +0000

If the tough-screen is big enough, I think the embedded help is a good way to help users.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:36:15 +0000

Mike and MonkeyPI, thanks for your comments on this topic. I was thinking about it today, and I agree that most touch-screen applications won’t allow you to have much of a help file in there. Kind of like your cell phone — sure there is often a “help file” included in the cell phone brains somewhere, but it’s skimpy and basic.

The one help file I wrote for a touch-screen application I did entirely outside the touch-screen (because I didn’t have access to the touch-screen code). I created a booklet and also a one page laminated sheet that was placed right beside the touch-screen panel. I took photos with my digital camera to include as relevant images.

It’d be really cool to see an online help file integrated into such an application.