Solving the Problem of 'Nobody Reads the Manual…'! How to Use Search Logs

"I created and published a manual, but hardly anyone is reading it..."

This is one of the most common concerns we hear from our customers.

You put in all that effort, and no one reads it... It's truly disheartening. Let's put an end to that frustration.

Analyzing search logs can give you hints about what manuals are needed

There are many different reasons why a manual might not be read.

Among the most common is the problem of:

"The content they need doesn't exist (they can't find the information they're looking for)"

For example, consider this kind of user behavior:

Someone had a question and tried looking it up in the manual.
There was no manual covering what they wanted to know...
They searched hard but couldn't find the information they needed, and left feeling deflated.
The problem went unsolved. They looked up at the ceiling and silently vowed never to come back...

It may sound a bit dramatic, but it's entirely plausible.

(As a side note, we often hear people say that the manuals that do exist only cover things they already know, so there's no point reading them.
However, those manuals are valuable assets that exist to be read at the right time by the right people —
such as new employees tackling a task for the first time, or veterans returning to a task they haven't done in a while.)

In order to avoid such situations as much as possible, maintaining the manuals that users actually need is critically important.

That's where the "Search Log" feature in Teachme Biz comes in handy.

By understanding what users are struggling with through the "Search Log," you can get a good sense of what manuals are needed.

This helps you identify what manuals to create next, making it easier to take action.

What is the Search Log?

When you search for something on the internet, you type keywords into Google or Yahoo! — right?

Teachme Biz has a similar search function for finding manuals.

The "Search Log" is a report (list) that lets you review the "search terms" that were actually entered into that search box.

Where can you access it? (Who can access it? What time period does it cover?)

First, log in to the web browser version of Teachme Biz. You can access it from the "Report" menu at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

You can view either:

1. Search data for the entire group
2. Search data for a specific folder

The access permissions are as follows:

1. For group-wide search data: Group administrators and sub-administrators
2. For folder-specific search data: Folder administrators and sub-administrators

Since data can only be retrieved for up to one month back, it is a good idea to check regularly — such as at the beginning or end of each month.

Data can be exported as a CSV file, which is recommended for more detailed analysis.

What information can you see?

First, there are Search Terms — the actual words entered into the search box.

Then there is Type, which classifies results into the following three categories based on whether any manuals matching the search term exist and whether they were viewed:

In addition to the above, you can also view information such as "Device" (the device or application type used during the search), "Manual ID" (a 7-digit number assigned to each manual), manual title, folder name, access time (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss), and hit count.

What you can learn from data analysis

From "Search Terms," you can infer what users were struggling with (what they wanted to know).

From "Type," you can see whether manuals exist for those search terms, and whether users actually viewed them or not.

By categorizing and counting this data, two key facts emerge:

1. Trends in what users are struggling with
2. Whether the necessary manuals to address those struggles are in place

Example workflow for analyzing search log data

Here is an example of how to interpret the data.

Looking at the "Search Terms," you can see multiple terms related to "folders," suggesting that users were having trouble with something related to "folders."

The "Access Time" also shows that similar searches were performed in quick succession.

This suggests that the same person was repeatedly searching because they couldn't access a folder.

Looking at the "Type" for those searches, there are many entries showing "No Search Hit" or "Search Hit - Not Viewed."

Tracing the timeline, searches such as "folder - cannot view" and "folder - can't see" returned "No Search Hit," so the user tried several different keywords.

At one point, a search did return a hit, but the user did not proceed to view the manual.

This is likely because the manual they were looking for wasn't apparent, or because the hit count of 19 results was too many, prompting them to refine their search with additional keywords.

The more refined search for "folder - can't see" returned "No Search Hit," but ultimately the search for "folder - add" resulted in a "Search Hit," and it can be confirmed that the user viewed a manual titled "Adding Members to a Folder."

In other words, the user's issue was resolved.

"And they lived happily ever after!"

— but that's not quite the whole story. Stopping there would make the analysis pointless.

After analyzing the data, it is essential to take improvement actions as well.

Improvement actions to take after data analysis

Perspective 1: No Search Hit

This is a situation where no manual containing the search term was found.

The issues at play are the following two points:

1. No suitable manual exists for the user's problem
2. A suitable manual actually exists, but the search term was not included in it

For improvement, if no suitable manual exists for the issue, the action to take is to create one.

On the other hand, as illustrated in the "folder" search example above, there are cases where a suitable manual actually exists, but the search term was not included in it, which is why it didn't appear in the results.

In that case, it is recommended to make the manual searchable by:

• Adding the term to the title
• Adding the term to the description
• Adding it as a search tag

In particular, for searches that are predictably common — such as "folder - cannot view" or "folder - can't see" — making use of search tags is a good approach.

Perspective 2: Search Hit - Not Viewed (= Search Hit with no manual view)

This is a situation where a manual containing the search term existed, but the individual manual was not viewed.

The manual appeared in the search results, but it is assumed that based on the manual title or description, the user determined it would not resolve their issue.

The following three problems may be at play:

　　A. A suitable manual actually exists, but it could not be identified from the title
　　(it did appear in the search results)

　　B. A suitable manual actually exists, but the search term was not included in it (it did not actually appear in the search results)

　　C. No suitable manual existed for the issue

Which of A through C applies can be reasonably inferred by considering the business context related to the "Search Term."

For example, a search term like "folder can't see" suggests the user is having trouble viewing a folder that should exist, which gives a clear indication of what manual should be provided.

If you cannot infer the cause from the "Search Term," interview users to gather feedback.

Typical examples of what to ask for feedback on include:

• Whether the information they needed was covered in relation to their search term
• Whether the title was easy to find
• Whether the content of the manual was easy to understand
• Whether the issue was actually resolved (i.e., whether the steps are reproducible)

Based on what you learn from the data and interviews, take the following actions:

• Create a new manual
• Revise the steps of an existing manual to make them clearer
• Update the title of an existing manual
• Add search tags

Perspective 3: Search Hit (= Search Hit with manual viewed)

This is a situation where a manual containing the search term existed and was actually viewed.

This tells you that at least one manual appeared in the search results that the user felt might solve their problem, and they went ahead and viewed it.

However, whether the manual actually resolved the user's issue cannot be confirmed from the report alone.

If, when cross-referencing with the "Search Term," there is a possibility that the viewed manual may not have resolved the issue, it is a good idea to interview users and gather feedback, just as in Perspective 2.

You can also enable Teachme Biz features such as the "Manual Rating" function or "Comment" function to receive feedback directly within Teachme Biz on whether the manual was actually helpful.

The experience of "Teachme Biz saved me when I was stuck!" is what drives adoption

When a manual doesn't exist for what a user is looking for, it creates frustration — they searched hard and came up empty-handed. This can lead users to feel that Teachme Biz isn't worth using.

If this continues, users will start thinking "Searching Teachme Biz never solves anything — I'll just ask someone..." and the tool will lose its effectiveness.

To prevent this, it is necessary to understand user needs based on data and steadily create and improve relevant manuals.

As is often said, creating a manual is not the finish line — continuously improving and updating it is critically important.

By repeating the following improvement cycle, users will gradually become more engaged with the tool:

1. Identify specific user struggles through data, interviews, and surveys
2. Request relevant departments to create or revise manuals
3. Proactively communicate when new manuals are created or existing ones are updated

This article covered step 1 of that improvement cycle. We hope you found it helpful!

If you are responsible for creating manuals, please consider incorporating this improvement cycle into your regular workflow.