Expressing help at appropriate levels

Users of help systems often complain that the documentation is pitched at the wrong level, but the "right" level differs among users. Building on a prior definition of the space of possible expressions of documentation in terms of task, application, and user experience, we explore what it means to express help at different levels. We also survey other dimensions in which help contents may be organized to provide ease of access to the information people need when troubleshooting applications, and conclude by proposing an interface through which users could navigate dynamically, thus finding help expressed at their own "right" level.