Has anyone tried to analyse content from a BRS? I am working on a new systems training and the BRS contains no screenshots of the screens the user will need to click on - but a lot of technical jargon on what the new software should be able to do. Nothing short of a nightmare trying to pull training content from this doc.
Would appreciate any tips on how to get the most out of this doc - if someone's perhaps had a similar experience.
This is always a toughie, but a couple guiding principals have always helped me in these situations...
80/20 rule is absolute gospel. Focus on what users will do most often and be brave enough to let go of all the caveats/what ifs/unique situations. Put that stuff in a separate reference document(s) or create a "level 2" course for the weird stuff if absolutely necessary.
Forget the software and think about the person. Carve out the processes and steps they will do most often (see #1 above) and train the process.... not the software capabilities. That nuanced change can make a huge difference and help bring order to the chaos.
Remember they will not remember much of what they learn like this the very first time. So include take-aways, job aids, follow up training, key users/expert support and more.
If you follow these guidelines, you go from a mish mash of stuff that seems overwhelming, to identifying what most people really care about. And here's the key to tell your SMEs/Stakeholders.... If the software is well designed, once we get folks doing the basics/most common stuff the rest becomes intuitive and they start to adopt it and learn more advanced stuff on their own anyway. And that's what everyone really wants to happen.
2 Replies
Hi Jessica,
This is always a toughie, but a couple guiding principals have always helped me in these situations...
If you follow these guidelines, you go from a mish mash of stuff that seems overwhelming, to identifying what most people really care about. And here's the key to tell your SMEs/Stakeholders.... If the software is well designed, once we get folks doing the basics/most common stuff the rest becomes intuitive and they start to adopt it and learn more advanced stuff on their own anyway. And that's what everyone really wants to happen.
Hope this helps,
Bob
Hi Bob
Thanks for your words of wisdom! This helps a lot.
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