Benefit No. 1: Multiple-empowered learning

This benefit alone is worth it all. With a Use Simulator, software users can quickly and realistically learn how to use the darn thing.

No more intensive reading of helps, manuals, and Google results for a simple answer. No more strained eyes and frustration from overexertion.

useSim is visual and there is so little reading that it becomes interesting.

Example. Right now I tried to switch my keyboard to Japanese input. Apparently a simple task. I did "Regional settings" etc. etc., Nothing worked. I groped in the dim light of Windows help and felt that I was going crazy. Searched Google. Found a lot of interesting tangential information. Intuitively tried again, and... it worked for no apparent reason. Typical. If  this operation had been modelled on a Use Simulator, I'd have saved a lot of time and emotion, and I wouldn't be left with the nagging unanswered question, How the ...eck did it work after all?

Use Simulator as a Help system is easy, complete, to-the-point and up-to-date

Can it get any easier than pointing the cursor at unknown things for immediate answers? Or clicking through steps of actions you need to master?

Due to the optimal combination of visuals, interactivity, linking, and information design, knowledge density in Use Simulators is unparalleled.

In addition, their modular structure and HTML technology permit any improvements, corrections, additions, and modifications to be made immediately. 

Compare it with other Help systems that are almost always outdated even before they are released.

As another advantage, a Use Simulator can easily be duplicated and modified to support authentically each version of the same software, for instance Lite, Pro, etc.

Faster, deeper, juicier corporate training and self-study

The same Use Simulators that serve as help systems are ideal teaching aids. If you've seen a Use Simulator, this needs little explanation. Minimal instructions will customize training to specific requirements.

Example. The Use Simulator for MS Outlook Mail 2003 describes probably everything there is about email in Outlook.

If a corporate team needs each member to send emails to the whole team at once, the simple solution is to use a distribution list. Obviously, team members need to learn how to create and use distribution lists. How can they do it? In a group session - you know how ineffective it is. Individually, by reading help and trying to understand verbal descriptions of necessary actions - even worse. Even describing it exhausts one's patience.

Instead, they can learn it from Composing email > Create a distribution list in the Use Simulator for MS Outlook Mail 2003. Learn at own pace when convenient, observe the steps as many times as needed and practice them on the same screen. "Monkey see, monkey do".

If a few more activities are needed, such as setting up custom project folders and creating message rules to store appropriate emails automatically in those folders, then the trainer can put together simple instructions pointing to the pertinent items in the Use Simulator.

Compare your software learning experiences (including when you gave up on learning a potentially useful skill) with studying the procedures step-by-step interactively with full visual support, practicing them on the replica of the real interface, and then actually applying the new skills, while still having the Use Simulator open in another window for comparison with the progress you are making in the original software.

Impactful visual content in product pages and client presentations

To see is to believe. A typical example or two taken from the Use Simulator give the prospective user an appreciation of the software.

A full Use Simulator deployed on a website as online help, reference and user's guide also tells the whole story of the software.

Not to forget that "how to" sequences and many reference cases are based on typical examples of the software used in real life. The prospective user will instantly recognize the value of the product.

In the same vein, a Use Simulator is good for a presentation. It proceeds better than with live software because something always goes wrong with live, while a Use Simulator is hard wired with the best examples and procedures.

Example. A "how to" sequence of actions can be described as a clickable step-by-step procedure. This example may not be familiar to everyone, but it gives an idea. Use your imagination, won't you?

Tech Support workload reduced to bare minimum

Due to its interactive visual interface, Use Simulator easily answers even such questions that are unaswerable by a conventional online help or manual.

How much does it reduce the workload of Tech Support? A very rough estimate is to analyse questions asked by software users and determine which of those questions can be answered by the appropriate Use Simulator.

Both "what" and "how" questions should be counted. A sufficient understanding of Use Simulators would help the analysis. The estimate is only tentative because the whole environment is changed when a Use Simulator comes into play.

Relieved from the burden of trivial user inquiries, tech support specialists can improve the user support system even more. They can summarize experience from interactions with users, documented and otherwise, research Web and IRC forum archives, project mailing lists, and other Internet resources, identify frequently asked questions, find best ways to answer those questions, and build it all into online and offline Use Simulators. It's a lot of work, but work intelligent, creative and uplifting, unlike parroting back the same answers to recurrent questions over the phone.

Eventually a lot of extra heat will be taken off the live tech support lines and communications on them will be raised to a more meaningful level.

Unexpressed frustration of users is down,
positive user experience is up

Many questions remain unasked because few users like to be waiting for Tech Support on the phone, while being tortured by music; others do not want to admit that they need help, and so forth. With Use Simulator, lots of questions get their answers without external help.

Example. Who would call Tech Support and try to ask about the meaning of a graphic element on screen? Like the graphic at the tip of the arrow in this example? Nobody.

Very few persist and find answers on their own. Most users give up trying. The result? Another unresolved tension from the unanswered question sinks in to their subconscious and creates negative attitude, rejection of the software. Not good.

Introduction without disruption

A Use Simulator can be introduced gradually, one piece at a time, or all at once. Hypertexts are highly modular and scalable. Use Simulator, being a true hypertext, has these qualities without limitations.

For instance, the first phase might be to deploy interactive reference screens on product support web pages. They would serve as reference on their own, and also support existing manuals or online help.

Next, "how to's" may be added in the order of their priority.

Finally, the whole thing can be compiled into one file and distributed with software or downloaded for offline use.  

In fact, there is no end to this process so long as the needs of the users change. Fine-tuning of current modules, additions in response to newly identified needs, implementation of new ideas and innovations - it's an ongoing process.

The introduction of a Use Simulator does not disrupt the functioning of the system that is already in place. The Use Simulator complements it, and when appropriate replaces it in a natural way.

Low cost of production

A Rolls Royce of a Use Simulator will be expensive. A simple one serving all the basic needs is less expensive than a usual manual.

There is no need for any exotic software, equipment or outlandish skills, so the cost is comparable to usual technical documentation minus the costs of paper and printing.

The only difficulty is to organize information to the requirements of Use Simulator, but that skill is learnable or available as any other professional skill.

Unlike many innovations, Use Simulators require modest predictable investments very similar to the usual operating costs of tech support materials.

Easy maintenance

In fact, no maintenance is needed... until there is a significant change in the graphical interface or functionality of the modelled software. And then only the changed parts have to be updated.

Updating is as simple as maintenance of a small static website. Can't get any easier.

The same Use Simulator has many faces and serves as:

• a reference system to answer quick questions
• a user's guide to explain how to perform actions
• a training device with an interactive interface to practice actions
• an exploration tool to explore the modelled software
• a means of getting user feedback through message boxes or forms
• a core system to enable more resources: as a hypertext, it can be linked to anything in any configuration.

Most embodiments of a Use Simulator require only minor changes, if any.

Some cases may be especially interesting and innovative, very much so for those who can afford creative thinking.

Modularity

A Use Simulator has a modular structure. Any part of it can be taken out and used for independent purposes, for instance in a web page.

On the other hand, a module can be added to a Use Simulator as needed. It fits seamlessly into an existing structure.

For instance, one or more external resources or common modules can be used in several Use Simulators modelling different versions of the same software.

Modularity is critical in recycling resources and keeping information absolutely up-to-date at the lowest possible cost.

Scalability

A Use Simulator can have different degrees of complexity and scope. Depending on requirements and resources, it can scale easily from very simple to very complex and back if complexity becomes undesirable.

Scalability can also be extended over time. A Use Simulator can grow together with the product it models.

With changing requirements, any part of a Use Simulator can be scaled up or down, added or removed, simplified or increased in complexity.

Interactivity

A Use Simulator is built around a graphical replica of the software interface or device it simulates. The Use Simulator has many kinds of interactivity. Here are the basic ones.

• When the user moves the cursor over the image, a comment appears whenever the cursor hits a significant screen element. This kind of interactivity is implemented primarily in the Reference section of the Use Simulator and it is called "ask-by-pointing".
• The How to use section has a different kind of interactivity.
  First, when the user clicks each step of a procedure in the left panel, the image in the right panel changes accordingly. Every step has its full picture, and the user observes.
  Second, the user clicks directly on the image. The image replicates the real interface, and the user practices real actions.

Different kinds of interactivity serve different purposes. Other controls can be used if needed. For instance, video clips would employ standard playback controls.

Integration with other Use Simulators and external systems

It is not always expedient to put everything into one Use Simulator. Parts of a large software application or related programs can be modelled by a family of Use Simulators. They may be integrated seamlessly so that the user will not notice any transitions, or each one can have its own identity.

Even standalone Use Simulators easily interact with the web. It opens many possibilities, from linking to external resources and communicating with the software developer and other users to automatic updates of information contained in Use Simulators.

Interaction and integration are practically unlimited.

Multiple formats

The same Use Simulator can be deployed in any or all of the three formats:

Use Simulator as a website or a part of a website. Core HTML technology makes it natural for a Use Simulator to be a website in its own right, or a part of a larger web-based solution.

Use Simulator as an ebook. Use Simulator can be compiled into one file. Some HTML compilers do an excellent job of packing it all into one executable file with full interactivity. It is suitable for download and use offline. Note the difference between full fledged ebooks and electronic copies of paper books.

Use Simulator on a CD/DVD-ROM. This solution is best for boxed software products. Free from any bandwidth limitations, such versions of Use Simulators can have the richest content possible. For instance, procedures can be presented both as interactive step-by-step sequences and as video clips; audio tracks can complement text and visuals to increase retention for users of auditory type. These are only a few hints.

Maintenance

Ongoing maintenance requires adding detail here and there, optimizing for search engine and user experience, scaling up or down, and so forth. If the Use Simulator is good enough as it is, no maintenance is needed.

Use Simulator is easy to upgrade in sync with the new releases of the software it models. Even major changes in the look and feel of the software interface and functionality require minimal changes in its Use Simulator because you only have to replace or rearrange independent elements and/or modules.