Using RoboHelp to create highly accurate HTML manuals for e-commerce package software

Interview Cooperation: Tohoku Media Co., Ltd.
(From left to right) Seira Saeki, Support Center, System Headquarters; Naoto Takahashi, System Headquarters

TOTSUMEDIA Inc. Overview

・Established: April 1981

・Established: April 1986

・Capital: 50 million yen

Business Activities: E-commerce Systems ・WEB Marketing ・BPO・RPA Services ・Media Planning ・Creative Production （https://www.totsumedia.co.jp/index.html）

Services Utilized

・HTML manual creation for EC build-out package software using RoboHelp

Project Background and Challenges

Could you tell us about the project overview?

Mr. Takahashi: Our company develops, sells, and maintains systems and e-commerce sites for mail order companies, and among them, we sell a package software for e-commerce construction called "Mail Order Marketer." The main purpose of this project is the renewal of "Mail Order Marketer" and the accompanying update of the manuals, for which we have requested your company to undertake the manual creation work.

--What specific challenges did you face during the renewal of the manual?

Mr. Takahashi: There were mainly three issues.
The first was that the method of publishing the manuals was inefficient. Previously, we created manuals in Word, converted them to PDF, and provided them individually to customers, but we felt that a system was needed to publish the manuals on a web page for easy access. However, we determined that creating such manuals in-house would be difficult and considered outsourcing.

The second challenge was the low usability of the manuals. The manuals were composed of multiple booklets, lacking cross-searching and links between booklets, making it difficult to find the desired information. By converting the manuals to HTML, we thought we could enhance searchability and create manuals that are easier for customers to use.

The third point was the amount of time spent responding to customer inquiries. If customers could resolve issues through the manual, there was a possibility of reducing the time spent on inquiries, and that was our goal. We wanted to create a useful manual that customers could actually utilize.

Reasons for Choosing Human Science

--- You considered multiple companies, but what was the reason you ultimately chose us?

Mr. Takahashi: While we had established an internal structure for creating the manual, there were still incomplete parts in the design document for the system renewal. Due to the specifications not being finalized, we anticipated various changes during the project, and we wanted to request a company that could provide meticulous communication and flexible responses.

We had meetings with multiple companies, but we decided to work with you because your proposal was specific and aligned with our needs, and we felt that you would communicate flexibly.

Key Points for Progress



Overall Image of Proposals by Human Science
We propose "RoboHelp" as an HTML manual creation tool.
From a single source, it is possible to output manuals with different structures and content for administrators and general users, among others.

Implementation Effects and Evaluation of Human Science Co., Ltd.

-- Have you seen any effects or results after actually implementing it?

Mr. Saeki: We received a manual with significantly higher accuracy than what we could create in-house.
As a support center, it was very convenient when we started operations.
Additionally, when providing manuals to our customers, we customize the content according to their requests, and the manual you provided was extremely helpful when adding to that content.

Mr. Takahashi: In addition to its use at the support center, I believe it can also be utilized for verification tasks and lectures within the company.

-- You are actually providing manuals to your customers, but are they published on your company's website or elsewhere?

Mr. Saeki: Currently, we are sending manuals in HTML format to customers who have implemented our system.
As a future prospect, we also plan to add a feature to call help from the system as you proposed.

During the delivery, we provided the creation of RoboHelp manuals and held a lecture session. Was this helpful to you?

Mr. Saeki: Yes, it was very helpful. To be honest, I didn't know anything about how to use RoboHelp, so your detailed explanations were really helpful. However, since RoboHelp is a tool I'm not used to, there are parts where I still don't understand how to use it.

--Understood. If there are any opportunities in the future where I can assist you with the use of RoboHelp or anything else, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to working with you.

RoboHelp Benefits　

--Could you please let us know if you have any feedback or concerns regarding communication and projects with our company?

Mr. Takahashi: To be honest, this project was quite challenging and not straightforward.
The software itself was still under development, and there were incomplete parts in the design documents. I recognize that there were challenges on our side as well, but I feel that if we had received a bit more detailed support from your company, such as progress management and hearings tailored to the situation, the project could have progressed even more smoothly.

Future Prospects

-- We would be happy to continue supporting you in the future. Do you have any specific ideas or prospects for utilization?

Mr. Takahashi: I would like to further enhance the use of the manual. Specifically, I am considering publishing the manual online and incorporating a help call feature into the "E-commerce Marketer." I want to provide it in a way that allows customers to utilize the manual more effectively. Additionally, since the "E-commerce Marketer" itself is evolving, it is also important to reflect that evolution in the manual.

This time, it was a great opportunity to hear about the situation where it has been successfully released and is actually being implemented by customers. If further improvement suggestions regarding the use of the manual are needed in the future, please feel free to reach out.

Mr. Takahashi: We would like to continue expanding the renewed "E-commerce Marketer". In doing so, we hope to make effective use of the manual we created this time to maximize its effectiveness. If we have any further inquiries at that time, we would like to contact you, so we appreciate your continued support.