Our users range from absolute beginners to experts. Many will be specialized in one area of the Editor, but won’t be familiar with the whole Editor. Somebody approaching the Editor for the first time (or the first time in a while) will approach it differently to somebody who uses it every day. People have different preferences and habits for where to find help; some want to read a tutorial, others prefer trial-and-error. The most sophisticated way to solve this problem is to provide help text on different levels in the Editor.

When designing a new feature, create help on several levels, to meet the needs of as may user types as possible.

• Tutorials and example projects teaching your feature area.
• Links to documentation pages relevant to the control or window.
• In-line instructions and information: Use an information box for information that the user needs to know about a control. Exercise restraint as these are quite intrusive.
• Tooltips: Use to show one or two lines of information about a control.
• Implement “no content” states with an easy way to get started, for views of windows that don’t currently contain any content. For example, the Animation window offers an easy way to get started if you don’t have any animations in your project.