Stevie Smith’s poem “Not Waving But Drowning” is a brilliant example of how perception completely changes a situation. You see someone far out in the water waving; you wave back. In reality, that someone is really trying to get your attention because they are drowning. That is a colossal misunderstanding.
What could have helped eliminate the confusion in this situation? Being close enough to hear the person would have helped you interpret the gesturing. Addressing more than one of your senses is a good approach when trying to communicate.
This same axiom can be applied to user interface design. Sometimes the placement and presentation of a feature isn’t enough to convey how it is to be used. Sometimes including some well-place text can help explain how to do something.
What do you do if that is not enough? What if the feature is really complex and users need more help? You can assume that they will read the documentation, but that requires knowing where to find the doc and wading through documents to find what they need. Unless finding that information is critical to the job at hand, people aren’t going to do that.
What other options do you have? How about some field-level help? An icon near the feature which serves as a link to more detail could address the use of that more complex feature. That link could also take a user to a recorded simulation which demonstrates how to use the feature.
You always have options. You just have to invest some time to make things clear for your users and keep them from misinterpreting your signals.
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