...is that most of the power comes from the ability to search, not from the hypertext links.
As soon as I know what information I need, I want to search, not "drill down" through menus, or bounce through hotlinks.
Hypertext links are useful if I don't know what I'm looking for, and the author does. Or to browse.
Actually, of course, hypertext links are very good at allowing access to related information. Often that can be important. But, if you think of online help, it is usually pretty clear what you want to do next. The issue is finding how to do it. And the most direct approach is to search, not to drill down through layers of menus.
© 1995 by John Robert Boynton
Last update: October 22, 1995.