Abstract
Operator's Guides have traditionally been used for the communication of information. Some recent work by de Bachtin (1985) has shown that in certain programming applications, expert systems can be used to perform the same function with increased user satisfaction. The current study addresses an SNA network assistance application and compares a conventional hard copy user's manual to an expert system designed to convey similar information. The performance of eight naive assistance operators attempting to solve eight typical problem scenarios was evaluated. Each operator performed all tasks.
Presentation order was counterbalanced. Measures included probability of successful solution and time of solution. Performance was superior using the expert systems approach for all measures.
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