Hypermedia, the facility for presenting information as a combination of text, pictures, animation, sound, and full‐motion video, provides exciting new opportunities for presenting information to our audiences. It may also, however, place additional cognitive load on them and may change the way they process the information presented to them. Those who write for hypermedia applications may need to change the way they look at the writing process, and those who teach writing may need to reconsider what they teach and what they choose to emphasize. Additionally, teachers who use hypermedia materials may need to be sensitive to students’ ways of approaching and using the material.

The author explores why computer users often do not use the HELP function offered by many programs. Three explanations are frequently offered for not using HELP: Asking for help: may break the user's flow of thought; disorients the user as far as navigation from screen to screen is concerned: and often does not provide the answer the user needs. Experience suggests that people have a low tolerance for unhelpful help, and that their initial expectations are quickly revised downward. What people think they want, what people expect, and implications of why users want context-dependent help are discussed. A conversational model for help is suggested. The application of a social, conversational model to human-computer interaction accounts for several phenomena that have been observed: people react badly to poor response time, people also react badly to very quick response time, and people react emotionally to programs.