If users are to develop an accurate model of your Help system, their position in the Help file must be clear. They should understand at all times where they are and where they can go. They should also understand the relationship between their present position and the location of other topics. And there should be a clearly defined route to related topics and an easy way for them to move around.
Developing a useful understanding of any system is essential to provide continuity in the Help file. This can be achieved by providing information relating the current screen to previous and subsequent screens. In other words, Help topics should indicate where users are, how they got there, and what they can do to continue. Without such information, users may find it difficult to keep track of how far along in their mental “plan” they are, making them less confident of their actions. This in turn may affect their efficiency and make them more prone to errors.
Information that preserves continuity should come at the beginning and end of each screen. You can facilitate navigation by developing a simple and logical structure that users can understand easily, and by providing location pointers and status information. These can take a variety of forms depending on the context. For example, the Help file could represent each category of information in the Help file with a different identifying icon.
You can facilitate navigation by placing orienting information in each topic that relates it to those preceding it and those following it. In this scheme:
nOrienting information at the top of the screen should relate the current screen to the preceding screen, identifying what the preceding screen was and why the current screen is being presented. For example, an icon identifying the topic category or domain could be positioned alongside the topic title.
nOrienting information at the bottom of the screen should relate it to the choice and consequences of actions available in the following screen. Placing cross-references at the bottom of a topic gives users choices for where they can go next.