Are we looking for content in all the wrong places? The significance of human factors research for complex tasks in documentation

For complex tasks and problems, users need instructional content that differs in kind from the information in current documentation. To develop this content, writers need to adopt new contextual perspectives on tasks similar to the views in much recent research in interface design. These perspectives alter current assumptions about learning, performance, and the nature of instructional information for mental models, procedural steps, and errors