Selected Papers

Research Focused on Communication
Design in Technical Support
Shunichi Yonemura†, Masaru Miyamoto,and Momoko Nakatani
Abstract
With the increasing use of network technology in society, there has been a sharp growth in technicalsupport requests from novice users. This paper describes our approach to implement efficient and highquality user support by understanding the behavioral characteristics of novice users.

1. Current state of technical support
With the expansion of IP (Internet protocol) services on broadband networks and the growing sophistication and complexity of IT (information technology) equipment, users are becoming increasingly likely to run into a growing variety of system problems.
When they encounter problems with IT equipment,
the way in which they deal with them appears to vary
according to their level of technical proficiency.
Highly skilled users tend to solve problems themselves by taking suitable steps to isolate the cause of
the problem and gathering the information they needto solve it. On the other hand, novices are usuallyunable to isolate problems satisfactorily and are thus
often unable to find a solution by themselves. For
such reasons, technical support centers are having todeal with enquiries in significantly greater numbers
and are facing the important issue of how to continue
providing efficient support while maintaining/
improving the quality of support provided to theircustomers.
1.1 Problem-solving process
The processes involved between the occurrence andresolution of an equipment problem are shown in Fig.
1. When an equipment problem occurs, the first steps
involve checking the status of the equipment and† NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories
Yokosuka-shi, 239-0847 Japan
E-mail: yonemura.syunichi@lab.ntt.co.jp

Vol. 3 No. 11 Nov. 2005

gathering the necessary information from sources
such as manuals and FAQs (frequently asked questions (and answers)). The cause of the problem is thennarrowed down to a particular location, and suitable
remedial action is taken. If the remedial action is
unsuccessful, then other possibilities are investigatedby returning to the narrowing-down step. If the remedial action is successful, then the equipment ischecked to confirm that it is operating normally, andif it is, the problem is solved. In this sequence, theefficiency with which work is carried out at the support center has a significant bearing on which stage
users can reach by their own efforts and on the efficiency with which each stage is handled.
1.2 Behavior of inexperienced users when aproblem occurs
When users complain of being unable to connect tothe Internet, in most cases the cause is something thatcan be solved by taking simple steps such as correcting a mistyped ID or password or resetting themodem. When users contact a technical support facility, ones with a high level of technical skill can often
partially narrow down the problem beforehand, so thetechnical support staff only need to deal with theremaining issues. However, inexperienced users generally tend to contact the support center directly without taking any preliminary steps, so the operators
must perform every step of the process shown in Fig.
1 regardless of how difficult or easy the problem is.
This results in the technical support center spending along time addressing problems that could be resolved
33Selected Papers

by simple measures such as checking an ID/password
or resetting the modem.
Inexperienced users contact technical support without taking any prior action partly for physical reasons(e.g., being unable to make sense of the manual or
having no manual at all or lacking the tools needed tosolve the problem) and partly for psychological reasons (e.g., assuming they are incapable of solving the
problem or being afraid or unwilling to tackle theproblem). Furthermore, when inexperienced users
talk to a support center operator, there are liable to becommunication barriers originating from the user’s
lack of technical knowledge or familiarity with terminology (e.g., inability to describe the status of theequipment accurately or inability to understand theoperator’s instructions), and this can place a large

ProblemoccursCheck status

Gather information

Identify the causeof the problem

psychological load on the user.
2. Communications design in technical support
To improve the efficiency of technical support andprovide high-quality support that reduces the psychological load on users, we have studied a communications design that considers both physical and psychological factors. Specifically, we have studied online
help systems that make things easy for inexperienced
users, and we have researched and developed an educational support system that encourages inexperienced users and a visual support scheme that increases the efficiency of telesupport.
3. Online help to support inexperienced users
3.1 Experiment on behavior of inexperienced
users
To investigate why inexperienced users are unable
to resolve problems by themselves, we experimentally reproduced situations in which an Internet connection could not be established, and we observed theway in which novices used online (telephone) help toresolve these problems [1]. A graph of the overall success rates for different types of problems is shown in
Fig. 2. These tests were performed under four sets ofconditions comprising combinations of two factors: (1)problems such as user ID input errors (setting errors)
or disconnected wires or the like (wiring errors) and(2) whether or not there was a delay (e.g., restarting
the system) between the user taking the actions indicated by the online help and the problem being solved.
The point plotted in the top-left corner of Fig. 2
shows that a success rate of 100% was achieved insetting error problems where there was no time delay.
These problems were ones that could be solved
100

Take remedial action
Success rate (%)

Confirm normal operationn = 10n = 10

80
n=9

60
40

Non-delayedn = 1020

Delayed0
Problem is solved

Setting errors

Wiring errors
n: total number of samples

Fig. 1. Processes involved in solving an equipment
problem.

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Fig. 2. Success rates achieved with different types ofproblems.

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Selected Papers

The system has detected a problem.
First, check the wiring between the PC
and ADSL modem.
Desktop PC

LAN cable

ADSL modem

Notebook PC

Fig. 3. Example of an explanatory diagram.

straight away simply by pressing a button indicatedby the online help. Thus, even novices could easily
solve problems of this level by themselves. However,it was not so easy for novices to perform operations
such as fixing wiring problems or inputting user
information based on their understanding of the contents of the online help. We observed some characteristic problems.
An example of an explanatory diagram used in the
online help is shown in Fig. 3. Although it tells a user
to check the wiring between the ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber line) modem and the PC (personal computer), we found that some users mistook
their splitter (equipment for splitting the voice anddata signals) for the ADSL modem and ended up
checking the wrong cable. Although the modem andsplitter were both white and rectangular in shape,
they were different sizes and also had different locations and functions in the system configuration. We
also observed errors in which users input an email
password instead of an Internet connection authentication password. Another problem was that the help
system gave users instructions via a figure in which
the connection authentication password part in theuser manual was circled in red. However, since therepresentative password used in this example wasalmost certainly different from a user’s actual password, users were liable to enter the example password instead of their own password. Novices lacking
this sort of system understanding characteristicallymade mistakes involving confusion of superficial
descriptions of images and keywords.
3.2 Online help matched to skill levels
Although these tests used simple problems thatwould have been easy to solve by following the help
instructions, mistakes were still observed. Real problems are more complex because they involve various
Vol. 3 No. 11 Nov. 2005

factors such as the user’s terminal environment andsoftware environment. Consequently, we think thaterrors will occur more frequently in practice than inthese tests.
To comprehensively resolve these issues, it is necessary for users themselves to have some understanding of the system so that they do not become confusedby superficial descriptions. However, novices cannot
be expected to buy textbooks or put in hours of study.
We are therefore researching and developing an
online help system in which additional information in
the help system promotes user understanding of the
problem-solving process so that inexperienced users
gradually deepen their understanding of the systemthrough repeated use of the help system.
4. Educational support to promote a positive
attitude to problem-solving
Current technical support systems generally
employ methods in which users are entirely guided
by the operators and mechanically perform the
instructions given by the operators [2]. In otherwords, the users usually do not gain any understanding of the operations they are performing (e.g., whysuch operations are necessary). Although this sort ofoperator-led interaction saves time, it has the drawback of not raising the user’s skill, no matter how
many times it is repeated.
We have therefore proposed and are studying theconcept of “educational support” whereby every
effort is made to explain to users why each operationis needed and how it relates to the problem-solving
process as a whole, instead of presenting the user
with a simple operational procedure for solving the
problem. The aim of educational support is to allow
users to learn by experience from the problems they
are currently encountering. Since users attach great
importance to solving their problems, this form of
support is characterized by a stronger motivation tolearn than curriculum-based learning such as tutorials
or “classroom-in-a-box” type products.
On the other hand, when users are unable to solve
problems by themselves, the cause is not just a matter of them having insufficient knowledge and skills
to tackle the problem, but also includes psychologicalfears and aversions such as an unwillingness to touchanything in case it breaks. And there are probably
some users that assume the problems are too difficult
for them to even think about fixing and who never gonear a computer manual. In educational support, we
aim to deepen the user’s understanding of topics such
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as the workings of the Internet based on the problems
that the user is actually experiencing right now, thereby eliminating the above-mentioned negative feelings
while helping users feel more involved with theonline world. In this way we hope to resolve users’
uncertainties about recognizing the significance of
the actions they are currently performing and increase
their eagerness to tackle problems by themselves.
Ways of putting educational support into practiceinclude methods in which the significance of each
remedial measure is explained while the support center operator is solving the problem (simultaneouscommentary) and methods in which a summarized
explanation is given after the problem has beensolved (subsequent commentary). Both methods havebenefits and drawbacks, but we have found experimentally that subsequent commentary tended to bepreferable to simultaneous commentary, especiallywhen the user had a low level of computer skill. The
main reason for this seems to be that novices haveenough trouble performing the problem-solving
actions and do not have time to listen to technicalexplanations at the same time. Furthermore, whensubsequent commentary is provided, the same information can be represented using various means andmethods, such as a verbal description or an illustrated text document. We are designing such forms ofeducational support and experimentally evaluating
their effectiveness. We are also performing studies on
putting this knowledge to practical use.
5. Visual support for improving the efficiency oftelesupport

180

40

160

35

140

30

120
100

Video-G
Audio-G

80
60

25Video-G
Audio-G

20
15

40

10

20

5

0

0
Remedial action

Confirmation of
normal operation

Fig. 4. Average task completion time.

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Utterances

Task completion time (s)It has been found that when inexperienced users

talk to a technical support center over the telephone,they find it difficult to accurately tell the operator,
using words alone, how the problem occurred andwhat sort of environment the equipment is operatingin. Novice users also find it difficult to accurately
understand and act on technical instructions provided
by an operator over the telephone. Consequently,
when there is a substantial gap between the level oftechnical knowledge and vocabulary between parties
involved (e.g., between an inexperienced user and atechnical support operator), the effectiveness of telesupport can be impaired because mutual understanding often cannot be reached smoothly through communication using a single information channel suchas a telephone. To break through this barrier, we areconducting fundamental studies into visual support
techniques that introduce video into telesupport for
inexperienced users. Although visual support could
be provided via a cellular phone with a videophonefunction, in this experiment we prepared online video
to provide higher resolution [3]. The graph in Fig. 4
shows the results of psychological tests conducted todetermine how the time taken by inexperienced users
to perform tasks differs between cases where telesupport is provided by telephone only (Audio-G (audiogroup)) and where the support is provided by the telephone and online video (Video-G (video group)). The
vertical axis shows the average task execution time,
and the horizontal axis shows the type of task being
performed. As this figure shows, the use of video
resulted in a (statistically significant) reduction in thetime taken to perform problem-solving tasks andoperation confirmation tasks.
The graph in Fig. 5 shows how many utteranceswere made by the test subjects in these experimental

Remedial action

Confirmation of
normal operation

Fig. 5. Average number of utterances.

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Selected Papers

tasks. The number of utterances made by the operator
is not included in the figure. The vertical axis shows
the number of times the test subjects spoke during
each task, and the horizontal axis shows the type oftask being performed. As this figure shows, the use ofvideo resulted in a (statistically significant) reductionin the number of times the test subjects spoke while
performing problem-solving tasks and operation confirmation tasks. This suggests that communication
through video can compensate for the lack of knowledge and terminology that characterizes inexperienced users and can improve the efficiency of thetelephone conversation while alleviating the stressthat the test subjects feel about speaking (when words
do not come out as expected). We have thus foundthat the use of video communication in technical support aimed at novices can achieve efficient communication with a low psychological load.

Shunichi Yonemura
Senior Research Engineer, NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electrical engineering from Niigata University,
Niigata in 1983 and 1985, respectively. He
joined NTT Electrical Communication Laboratories in 1985 and moved to NTT Cyber Solutions
Laboratories in 2004. He is a member of the
Human Interface Society and the Institute ofElectronics, Information and Communication
Engineers of Japan.

Masaru Miyamoto
Research Engineer, NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
He received the B.E. and M.E degrees in industrial and management systems engineering fromWaseda University, Tokyo in 1995 and 1997,
respectively. He joined NTT Human Interface
Laboratories in 1997 and moved to NTT Cyber
Solutions Laboratories in 1999. He works on
cognitive engineering especially for complex
problem solving. He is a member of the Human
Interface Society and the Human Factors and
Ergonomics Society.

6. Future prospects
To implement efficient, high-quality user support,
the most important thing is to understand the characteristics of user behavior. In the future, to implement
efficient support that provides a high level of customer satisfaction, we will continue our efforts toclarify the behavioral characteristics of users during
telesupport and use this knowledge to facilitate thework of support centers.

Momoko Nakatani
Research Engineer, NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
She received the B.E. and M.E degrees in pureand applied physics engineering from Waseda
University, Tokyo in 2001 and 2003, respectively. She joined NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories
in 2003. She works on user support based on educational technology. She is a member of theJapan Society for Educational Technology.

References
[1]

[2]

[3]

M. Miyamoto, M. Nakatani, and S. Yonemura, “Interaction Analysis
between Novices and Expert Help System,” Human Interface, Vol. 7,
No. 2, pp. 71- 76, 2005 (in Japanese).
M. Nakatani, M. Miyamoto, and S. Yonemura, “Enhancing Motivation in Self-Service Troubleshooting,” Technical Report of IEICE,HCS2004-56, pp. 41- 46, 2005 (in Japanese).
S. Yonemura, M. Miyamoto, and M. Nakatani, “A conversational
analysis of visual tele-support,” Human Interface, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.
77- 82, 2005 (in Japanese).

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