Nanomentoring: Investigating How Quickly People Can Help People Learn Feature-Rich Software

TL;DR

This study explores the potential for ultra-rapid human assistance in feature-rich software by analyzing question-answering times and preferences for text or audio responses.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of 'nanoquestions' and provides empirical evidence on quick answer feasibility and user preferences for communication modes.

Findings

Over 50% of nanoquestions could be answered in under 60 seconds.

Participants preferred quick, helpful advice in less than a minute.

Feedback identified key factors that enable rapid assistance.

Abstract

People frequently use online forums to get help from experts to answer questions about feature-rich software. However, they may have to wait minutes, hours, or even days to receive advice. We investigate the potential to leverage experts to provide quicker help. We collected over 200 questions from online forums for two feature-rich software applications and suspected a quarter were short enough to be answered in less than one minute (defined as nanoquestions). We then conducted a study with 28 experts recruited from help forums to confirm this assumption, and explore whether there was a preference between text and audio answers. For more than half of the nanoquestions participants saw, they could give advice that they believed was helpful in under 60 seconds. Finally, we collected feedback about what makes a question quick to answer to inspire the design of future tools for ultra rapid human-to-human help.