Soliciting Reader Contributions to Software Tutorials

Abstract

Online software tutorials help a wide range of users acquire skills with complex software, but are not always easy to follow. For example, a tutorial might target users with a high skill level, or it might contain errors and omissions. Prior work has shown that user contributions, such as user comments, can add value to a tutorial. Building on this prior work, we investigate an approach to soliciting structured tutorial enhancements from tutorial readers. We illustrate this approach through a prototype called Antorial, and evaluate its impact on reader contributions through a multi-session evaluation with 13 participants. Our findings suggest that structuring tutorial contributions has positive impacts on both the number and type of reader contributions. Our findings also point to design considerations for systems that aim to support community-based tutorial refinement, and suggest promising directions for future research.