Playback - constructing interface tutorials from usage logs

Dynamically Generating Interface Tutorials from System Logs

Users of Enterprise Information Systems face considerable challenges in relating the generic, allencompassing system interfaces to the vocabulary and business practices of their organizations. The help functionality is often too general to be of much use, and employees typically prefer to ask a colleague or a help-desk consultant for directions on how to proceed rather than turn to a user manual. A more direct, less resource-intensive approach than person-to-person assistance is to have the system itself provide the guidance the user is seeking in how to navigate and use its interface. We have implemented a playback interface that aids users of our Enterprise Resource Planning prototype in learning to perform an individual task or a multi-task business process. Our algorithm creates dynamic visualizations of previously occurring system-user interactions for demonstrating the system interface. The demonstrations are constructed in real time based on usage log data aggregated from multiple, pertinent user sessions. We discuss the challenges of identifying and aggregating relevant usage log records for task demonstrations and highlight the components of our data model designed to overcome these challenges. The playback interface offers a natural, low-cost alternative that is more flexible than pre-recorded tutorials, as the user can select a tutorial from a variety of options. In addition, it has the advantage of representing the actual business practices within the organization, which may differ from those prescribed by the system.

Relevant publications and demos

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0819333. Views expressed herein are those of the authors, not of the National Science Foundation.

Last modified: Thurs Jan 31 9:08:53 Eastern Daylight Time 2012