hi @MMiller_WMF - see the comparative review deck, I've started iterating on designs based on the some of the main takeaways already but please comment if there's anything particular you want addressed.

Thanks, @RHo. It looks like there's enough consistency across platforms that we'll probably be tapping into habits that users have already developed in other software. Here are some of my questions and thoughts:

• One question I have is whether those patterns are also consistent across cultures. For instance, does Korean software have the same sorts of patterns?
• Another question I have is the difference between a "help desk" and "community forum". Is the former where "staff" answer questions, and the latter where other community members discuss (as equals)?
• I like that this brings up how to convey the context of the question, like what line or sentence or file the user is struggling with.

In T206713#4717517, @MMiller_WMF wrote:

Thanks, @RHo. It looks like there's enough consistency across platforms that we'll probably be tapping into habits that users have already developed in other software. Here are some of my questions and thoughts:

• One question I have is whether those patterns are also consistent across cultures. For instance, does Korean software have the same sorts of patterns?

• Good point and it was a constraint due to my lack of cs and ko context. However, Facebook at least is in there as a site popular in both countries. Similarly, reviewing ZenDesk and Intercom (the company that provides the customer service for Airtable) is intended to capture best 'global' best practices generally.
• For specific cultural comparison I did have a look at a couple of popular Korean sites like Daum, Naver etc and wasn't able to see prominent in-context help (though these are more portals and I may have missed something in translation). The one place that is pretty equivalent was namuwiki but afaik they do not offer in-context help, but rather 'front load' their site with lots of comprehensive help for new editors (getting started guides, links to forums, etc); as well as showing similar links to help at the bottom of pages when editing (but which direct users out of editing).

• Another question I have is the difference between a "help desk" and "community forum". Is the former where "staff" answer questions, and the latter where other community members discuss (as equals)?

• Yes. I think this is an important distinction we should make that our Help Desk will be manned by volunteers so that it set expectations around:
  • (a) "Service" and who they are getting help from - newbies should know they are not receiving advice by some Wikipedia customer service representative being paid to be civil and helpful, but community individuals like them;
  • (b) Response times - users understand their answer is dependent on someone in the community making a choice to respond, rather than it being a responsibility of some specific Help staff.

• I like that this brings up how to convey the context of the question, like what line or sentence or file the user is struggling with.

• Yes, this is something that came up as a limitation of the Article Feedback Tool as well, so want to propose potential ways to allow users to give more context.

@RHo -- maybe @revi and @Urbanecm can chime in with whether the patterns you see in your slides are common in their cultures. We can also bring it up in check-ins with them this week.

Big internet companies (Naver, Daum ...) generally do not do in-context helps found at the presentation screenshots: We don't know why (hehe).

However some retail malls (i.e. F27080221 (seems to be just their own live chat every pages on desktop, and naver-provided chat help method on mobile ), F27080298 (has a "chatbot" solution with chat logo) do make use of some sort of in-context helps. (I found a startup(?) doing that business locally Korean company but does have English website.) I couldn't find the real in-context help we're looking for, because I am probably used to browsing sites where no in-context help is provided, or it's maybe Korean businesses just really don't do in-context help.

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