Help Content
Help content is educational copy that provides additional information about interactive elements or concepts in the UI.
The goal with any help content should be to teach users:
- How to complete a task or make the best, next decision
- Important information related to their current workflow (avoid providing information they don’t need yet)
- How to optimize their use of Dialpad
When to Use It
When and where to provide help content largely depends on the kind of experience you’re designing.
If you’re designing in an area that users are in regularly, such as the Dialpad inbox, prioritize for more experienced users. This is their space to get work done. We need to stay out of their way by offering clean, concise UI with minimal help content.
If you’re designing in an area that users use irregularly, like creating a chatbot or optimize Ai responses, prioritize for users who are unfamiliar with these tasks or workflows. Offer more context and guidance to help users make the best decisions for their companies.
Where to Place It
Like error messages, place help content as close as possible to the UI it references. If it’s teaching users about a UI’s purpose, put it above that element as a description. If it’s teaching a user about a specific input field, put it beneath the field as help text.
Avoid a Marketing Tone
Using help content to promote new features can erode trust with users. While we might believe in the value of our features, not every feature is the best choice for each customer at every point in time so we shouldn’t assume that.
Instead be sure to visually separate marketing and help content so users understand the difference between the two. There are times where these two content types might align, such as if we’re launching a free trial for a new feature in a product they’re already using.
“Learn More” Links
“Learn more” links take users to the Dialpad Help Center for more detailed information then we can offer in the UI. Make sure all “Learn more” links go to the page or specific heading for the topic. Our Help Center is a rich content resource, but it isn’t always convenient for users to read through this documentation. Landing on dense pages without knowing where to start is frustrating and disorienting. If there isn’t a page or specific heading for your help topic, work with our documentation team to create the right content.