FAQs about FAQs answered

Here is some info on FAQs that Steve Schang pulled together... and was kindly posted to an IA list I subscribe to by Samantha Bailey

FAQ Research
No empirical research identifying best practices in FAQs was found. Anecdotal evidence for FAQ design was identified in several message threads on the SIG-IA and SIG-CHI listservs. In addition FAQs are mentioned in Jakob Nielsen‚s "Top-Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2002" and the Yale Web Style Guide.

FAQ Themes identified:

Content

• Use actual questions that users ask
• Do not use questions that the business want users to ask
• Do not use marketing information
  Placement/Use of FAQs
• Provide FAQs when the user would ask the question based on user tasks/goals
• Make FAQs searchable

Format/Layout

• Provide contextual link title. (i.e. Frequently Asked Questions About Opening a Checking Account) The link should not just be called FAQs
  
• Do not use the FAQ acronym, instead spell out Frequently Asked Questions
  
• Logically group and order questions
  
• Ensure visual layout of FAQs is readable and scannable
  
• Bold key phrases not entire sentences or paragraphs

Process

• Gather FAQs by asking call center what questions customers are asking
  
• Use FAQ research to drive site design by making requested information more accessible
  
• Update FAQs, remove questions that are no longer frequently asked and add new questions that are being asked
  
• FAQs are a tool to reduce support type demands on staff

References:
Yale Web Style Guide
The Web and other Internet-based media have evolved a unique institution, the FAQ or "frequently asked questions" page, where the most commonly asked questions from users are listed along with answers. FAQ pages are ideal for Web sites designed to provide support and information to a working group within an institution or to a professional or trade group that maintains a central office staff. Most questions from new users have been asked and answered many times before. A well-designed FAQ page can improve users' understanding of the information and services offered and reduce demands on your support staff.

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, December 23, 2002:
Top Ten Web-Design Mistakes of 2002
#7 Infrequently Asked Questions in FAQ
Too many websites have FAQs that list questions the company wished users would ask. No good. FAQs have a simplistic information design that does not scale well. They must be reserved for frequently asked questions, since that's the only thing that makes a FAQ a useful website feature. Infrequently asked questions undermine users' trust in the website and damage their understanding of its navigation.

CHI-WEB Summary post for FAQ Design Tips

• Use actual questions customers ask not what marketing wants you to know
  
• Provide several different ways to display FAQs
  
• One large scrollable list of FAQs
  
• Integrated with search
  
• Put FAQs in context of product
  
• Map FAQs to user goals/tasks
  
• Integrate FAQs at the right place and time based on user goals and tasks
  
• The term FAQ should die. It does not provide context for the user
  
• Bold essential phrases to facilitate scanning. Don‚t bold entire paragraphs or sentences.
  
• Use the question and answer format.
  
• Logically order questions. (i.e. listing top five most asked questions first and then alphabetically or categorically.)
  
• Index and make FAQs searchable

CHI-WEB Summary post for In-line Help vs. Separate Help Documentation

• Use inline help for complicated, infrequent tasks
  
• Use separate help documentation for simple, frequent tasks.
  
• Context sensitive help is more useful because it does not take user out of initial context.
  
• Adjust FAQs frequently. They represent actual questions asked.
  
• Contextual help may clutter screen and reduce user efficiency

SIG-IA Labeling an FAQ link (link 2)
FAQ name describes a format for content, question and answer, rather than being descriptive of the content.

A usability test of Internet savvy users showed that most of them could not accurately define what an FAQ was. Resulting in the designers spelling out "Frequently Asked Questions" in the site's navigation.

SIG-IA FAQ Design Tips
Advocates linking to pieces of the FAQs to users at the moment they may have the question.

SIG-IA FAQ Strategy

• Ensure that the layout of the FAQ is readable and scannable.
  
• Arrange FAQs in multiple places around the site. Have fewer contextually relevant FAQs versus long lists.
  
• Make sure they are questions people really asked not just questions we would like them to ask. (Gather data from multiple source ˆ call centers, website feedback, etc.)
  
• Use FAQ data to drive site redesign, making most requested information more accessible. Site design driven by making requested information more accessible requires updating the FAQs highlight what the new frequently asked questions are.

SIG-IA Writing for the Web

• Link relevant documents from the FAQs.
  
• Make FAQs searchable.

Posted by Ant at November 17, 2003 05:06 PM | TrackBack