Help Files are no Help at all

Picture the scene: one you're probably familiar with. You're working to a deadline on your computer and you come across a software function you're not familiar with.
Do you: A) Soldier on and wing it. Or B) Trust in the software writer and go for the help icon.
If you usually go for A good luck to you; if you go for B I'll wager you usually end up chewing your fingers and picking a window for the poor PC (it's not its fault!! stop picking on it.) I blame it all on the software writers, which let's face it aren't teachers or trainers, they expect the software to work like a dream and the end user to be a know it all (which we aren't).

Why aren't help files helpful?

It's because software writers, quite rightly, concentrate on getting the program to work not on whether you might get stuck using it. But it's very frustrating to hit the help button, spend an age searching for the topic, only to find a confusing dead end. Which is usually a list of hyper-link headings which don't meet what you're looking for.

I'm going to start a one man mission to change all this. Help files should be just that, a place where the lost and confused find a place of refuge and met deadlines. A place where software users find answers easily and in a style that suits all learning styles. I've been on courses to learn software and STILL been stuck three weeks later. With the power of the web only a hyper-link away, software writers have no excuse to tap in to the power of I.T trainers (i.e. me!)