Questions and Answers
User-friendly question and answer content can be hard to achieve. It's often not the right approach.
'Frequently asked questions' are often avoided within the web usability and content sector as the approach implies the reader is aware of the frequency of the question and would know to look there rather than a topic or task-based navigation.
What would you think if a supermarket answered "How much does milk cost?" in a frequently asked questions section rather than on their page about milk?
It's probably best to think through the content from the user's perspective and ensure the information is easy to find and understand.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a need to signpost a lot of different advice for a lot of different people.
- Can we help guide people to the most appropriate information for their situation?
An early suggestion was whether we could personalise answers to filter out irrelevant advice. - How can we make answers easy to find and still give useful answers?
The more information we provide in the answer, the harder each answer is to find.
Design patterns and competitor analysis
More interactive:
- 🌟 A portfolio masquerading as a chatroom https://azumbrunnen.me/
- Multiple choice (in step 3) question to offer relevant support: https://help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/delivery-collection/order_amend
- Form logic to display narrative content rather than a form https://nakedwines.typeform.com/to/WdD9At
- Quite complex looking logic to personalise the response https://www.informedchoices.ac.uk/
- Guidance about project planning presented in a quiz format: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/national-lottery-project-grants/my-project-ready
Accordion examples
- 🌟 This is a nice "Service level" specific accordion design. https://www.swindon.gov.uk/coronavirus
- Nice example, multiple can stay open https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/frequently-asked-questions
- 🌟 Nice example, one open at a time https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/faqs
- Nested accordians, a bit complicated https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/faq
Clickthrough to new page
Pre-questions by user type; asking questions to get to questions
- https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/coronavirus-advice-and-guidance/covid19/
- https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/coronavirus/faqs/
Searchable examples
- https://laqm.defra.gov.uk/laqm-faqs/listall.php
- https://www.rcvs.org.uk/setting-standards/advice-and-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19/
- A range of patterns, many suggestest filter as a key feature: https://ui-patterns.com/patterns/frequently-asked-questions-faq
- Filter input could also be beneficial to give us data on demand and expectation
Gallery
Please click on the gallery images to enlarge.
