Minimalist Manuals
January 1996
A minimalist manual aims to provide a user with just enough information
to get going and to work things out for themselves.
Research suggests that people learn more effectively this way.
For example, see
Black, Carroll and McGuigan (1987),
Carroll (1990),
Sebrechts, Marsh and Furstenburg (1990),
Fischer, Mastaglio, Reeves and Rieman (1990).
- Black, J, J M Carroll and S M McGuigan, 1987,
- What Kind of Minimal Instruction Manual is the Most
Effective, G Salvendy (ed),
Proceedings of the 2nd Int Conf on Human-Computer
Interaction, Honolulu,
Vol 11,
Aug 10-14, 1987, pp 159-162.
- J M Carroll, 1990,
- The Nurnberg Funnel: designing minimalist instruction
for practical computer skill, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass,
1990.
- Sebrechts M M,P L Marsh, C T Furstenburg, 1990,
- Integrative modelling: changes in mental models during
learning, in S P Robertson, W Zachary, J B Black (eds),
Cognition, computing and cooperation, Ablex, Norwood,
New Jersey, 1990, pp338-398
- Fischer G, T Mastaglio, B Reeves, J Rieman, 1990,
- Minimalist explanations in knowledge-based systems,
Proceedings of the 23rd annual Hawaii Intl Conf on System
Sciences, Kailua-Kona, 2-5 January, 1990, pp309-317.
Author: Judy Kay