Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Software help systems are content viewers which are integrated into operating systems designed to assist users in learning to use software applications. Help systems provide information directly from the developers of software applications. Help systems have been neglected for a while and often replaced by unofficial resources. This research aims to review the limitations of the current help systems and find the reasons why users are less likely to use the integrated help systems to obtain information. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to collect data from all studies that investigate the limitations of help systems. The data collected were statistically analyzed to draw conclusions on the probable causes. The SLR reviewed 602 studies from 2010 to 2017 from nine online databases. 13 studies matched the selection criteria and were therefore included in the study. The data asserted the fact that users rarely use the integrated help systems and often preferred alternative methods. The analysis pointed at three major limitations of the help systems that caused users to underutilize the systems. These limitations include the inability of the help systems to adapt to users’ learning styles, difficulty in locating information, and overall ineffectiveness of the help systems. Addressing these limitations in help systems will help create a system that can reduce the need for unofficial resources, and therefore reducing the risks of cyber-attacks.

Keywords: Help Systems, Learning Styles, Software, Software Documentation, Software Learnability, Systematic Literature Review