leff@smu.UUCP (10/18/84)
A New Paradigm for User Services Most computer centers provide assistance to user by having one or more people answering questions as they come up. If the consultants would simply write a memo with a question and a detailed answer whenever a question comes up more than a few times, many beneficial effects occur. Then when the question comes up again, the person asking it is simply given a memo with the question and the answer to it. In most cases, this would resolve the problem. Basically, the policy would be that when any employee sees a couple of instances of a question (and there is no memo on file for it), he should immediately write a memo with the question and a detailed answer. It has been my experienced from working in several computer areas, that there is a set of questions that comprise a large fraction of the total questions asked. 1) The consultants do not get bored answering the same question "for the thousandth time." 2) The user gets a better answer than one that comes off the top off someone's head. For example, if there is a command sequence that must be typed in, there is no possibility of it being misunderstood or that the user has to read someone's (possibly bad) handwriting. The answer would be much more developed and clearly explained than a harried computer center employee would provide. 3) The memos can be kept in a central place for users to look at (either electronically or physically). That way the user's could look through the book when they have a problem (especially at hours when there is no one from the center staff available.) 4) This process develops a user handbook gradually. Thus those centers that desire to produce one have a gradual way of developing one rather than assigning a person to write it. As it grows (and is indexed), the center has a very useful and targetted set of "How to's." 5) As the courses being run on the machine change and new programs are added, the handbook adapts to the questions that the users have. If there is one professor who assigns the same assignments (or types of assignments), again and again you have exactly the questions and answers on file that you need. At least, as assignments change, after the first few students come in the answers to the questions will be on file.