NielsenHelp [principle] v1.0.0

Nielsen Heuristic 10: even though it is better for a system to be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help; such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, and list concrete steps.

Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

Attributed To

Jakob Nielsen, 1994

Applies To

• in-product onboarding: contextual tooltips and walkthroughs at point of need
• help documentation: searchable, task-oriented knowledge bases
• empty states: instructional copy that explains what to do first
• complex forms: inline help text for unfamiliar fields
• error recovery: linking from error messages directly to the relevant help article
• advanced features: progressive disclosure of documentation as users reach feature boundaries

Counter Examples

• A settings panel with a single '?' icon that opens a 200-page PDF manual — help is not searchable, contextual, or task-oriented.
• An onboarding tooltip series that fires on every visit, even for experienced users — help becomes noise instead of aid.
• A knowledge base with articles titled 'System Configuration v2.3 (deprecated)' that ranks above current guidance in search — help is present but not usable.

NielsenHelp [principle] v1.0.0

Nielsen Heuristic 10: even though it is better for a system to be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help; such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, and list concrete steps.

Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

Attributed To

Jakob Nielsen, 1994

Applies To

• in-product onboarding: contextual tooltips and walkthroughs at point of need
• help documentation: searchable, task-oriented knowledge bases
• empty states: instructional copy that explains what to do first
• complex forms: inline help text for unfamiliar fields
• error recovery: linking from error messages directly to the relevant help article
• advanced features: progressive disclosure of documentation as users reach feature boundaries

Counter Examples

• A settings panel with a single '?' icon that opens a 200-page PDF manual — help is not searchable, contextual, or task-oriented.
• An onboarding tooltip series that fires on every visit, even for experienced users — help becomes noise instead of aid.
• A knowledge base with articles titled 'System Configuration v2.3 (deprecated)' that ranks above current guidance in search — help is present but not usable.

Sources

Examples

• Intercom's in-app help widget surfaces contextually relevant articles based on the page the user is on — help is co-located with the task, not buried in a separate tab.
• Figma's empty canvas shows keyboard shortcut hints and a 'What's new' onboarding flow — documentation is surfaced at the moment users need it most.
• Stripe's developer docs embed live code examples in every API reference page — help is executable, concrete, and co-located with the specification.

Source

• Jakob Nielsen, 'Heuristic Evaluation', in Nielsen & Mack (eds.), Usability Inspection Methods (1994)
• https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/