- Provided before the user has encountered a problem to prevent issues
- Includes onboarding tutorials and contextual tips
- Aim is to familiarize users with an interface

What Is Proactive Help?

- Aims to troubleshoot problems and answer questions
- Includes materials such as documentation, videos, or even tutorials 
- Even though some users may consume such materials proactively, it is rare

What Is Reactive Help?

When an interface provides help to users, it can come in two forms: proactive help and reactive help.

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

It's best when a system can be used without help and documentation. However, sometimes help is necessary. 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 lengthy.

Help and Documentation

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/help-and-documentation/

Learn Before

Related

Learn After