EFFECT OF ERROR INFORMATION IN TUTORIAL DOCUMENTATION

In learning to use software, people spend at least 30% of their time o n dealing with errors. It could therefore be desirable to exploit user s' errors rather than to avoid them. That is, to include error informa tion in a manual to support users in dealing with errors. An experimen t was performed to examine the functionality of such error information in a manual for a word processor. Two manuals were compared, one with error information and one from which this information was removed. Fo rty-two subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. Subjects who used the manual with error information were expected to b ecome more proficient at using the word processor (i.e. to show better constructive and corrective skills) and to develop more self-confiden ce. The results were equivocal. On some aspects of skill the error inf ormation in the manual led to better performance (i.e. correcting synt actic errors). On others it had an adverse effect (i.e. detection of s emantic errors and overall error-correction time). Explanations are ad vanced for these findings and topics for further research are identifi ed.