Forum Discussion
Job-Aid Design: Tips, Tricks, What to Include, How to Format?
Hello helpful instructional design & training peeps,
I've been working on designing a few job-aids lately and I was looking at templates and ideas for how to format it online when I thought... why not check with the best training community there is!
Does anyone have any tips, tricks, or best practices for creating job-aids? What do you include in your job-aid? How do you format it? What advice would you give someone who's about to create their first job-aid?
Love to hear your ideas and feedback on this...
Thanks in advance!
I think the most important thing for these kind of learning interventions is familiarity. What I mean is you should get in the learner's space. What is their workflow? How do they use systems? What interferences do they have? What are the typical periods during the workday that they take breaks? For how much time?
Once you know the environment, the job aide should just come to you.
Hi Nicole:
David's link to Cathy Moore's Site led me to her Twitter Feed, where I found this:
Guy Wallace's blog post is a little on the thin side, but he does make one or two interesting points about Job Aids and who should/how to go about building them. ;)
I think everyone has said this already... but functionality is a huge driver of the design of the job aid. Is this job aid a procedural reminder or call to action? Is it a reference document?
If it's a procedural reminder, then I try to go with a simple statement that sums up the objective. Any additional words, graphics, or images should direct the learner to the statement. For example, if the message is "Verify Every Call!" I might design an aid that explains the repercussions of failing to properly verify a caller. The options are pretty open with this one.
If it's a reference document, I'm focusing on usability and convenience more than attractive design. In this case, a simple word document with a neatly designed chart will do.
I have made design and content reasons based on page size too. If it's an aid that will be kept at an agents desk, I do whatever I can to neatly fit the information on a one-sided 8.5 x 11 page. Employees here will do better with a simple one page reference document taped up on their cubicle than they will a detailed three page document that they have to flip through.
Ultimately, I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for our employees to make a correct decision or follow the proper procedure. I want to do that in the least amount of clicks/page turns/sentences possible
Preston:
I LOVE this idea/insight. If I were building a Job-Aid, the first thing I'd be looking to do is to see how many of these concepts I might work into this.
Example Ideas (personal "light-bulbs" from this Insight):
- Use an Infographic(s) either at the center OR periphery of my Print-Out or Job-Aid Slide, and then add thought balloons, captions, or other Post-It-Notes-like elements around it.
- Use a flowchart approach along with a combination of select text and graphics visuals to overview, evaluate, or underscore the desired learning process(es) that Job Aid supports.
I guess the most obvious question(s) that comes out from this is:
"What exactly IS a Job Aid?"
and
"How far should a/how detailed should a... particular Job Aid go/be?"
Great advice! I wish I could keep my job aid to under one page, but this will be multiple for using a software. I'm hoping to make it come to life!
Jessie:
I've done a lot of work with (and advocating for) job aids. One thing that's helpful, I think, is to see both job aids and training-to-memory (which is really "learning," but makes a better contrast in this case) as paths to a larger goal: someone able to accomplish some task. These aren't the only ways, but maybe the prime ones when information is involved.So, if people have to accomplish this cluster of tasks related to the inventory system, there are probably some terms and concepts they need to learn (store in their heads so they can retrieve in appropriate situations), like lead time or safety stock or minimum order. And there are probably several tasks they'll carry out every day, so learning makes senses for requesting inventory status, reviewing current orders, recognizing shortages, whatever. (We might use job aid formats to help people learn the process and practice these in training, but these job aids are more like training wheels, and we intend that people won't need them for long.
Other task are infrequent, or have many steps, or have high consequence for error, or have other features that argue for using job aids.The key point there is that it's not the size of the task, nor the size of the job aid: if it takes 57 steps to optimize the widget former, that's how many steps it takes, and you could end up with a large job aid, or perhaps a set of six job aids (one for each major stage of the widget optimization process).
Because of who its customers are, IKEA's manual for assembling its Galant desk is 40 pages long -- not that you need all 40 for the desk you bought, but because that's what they needed to cover all the different combinations for the desk. I wrote about that here: https://www.ensampler.com/archives/813
I know I am late to this discussion, but I would consider the physical environment in which the job aid is to be used. If the job aid is to be used outside in the field, i would suggest a laminated sheet. Also, I would consider if the sheet needs to be full sized. If the work is done with a computer nearby, consider making a video job aid or micro-elearning session. That is what we are starting to do.
Great headstart. I just dont know where to start till I found this and almost hired a graphic designer virtual assistant. Thanks!
The suggestions are very helpful. I am working on a job aid project and the design is based on search by pre determined words for policy related answers. Any recommendations to how to proceed?
Hi, Walaa:
For me it's helpful to think about the different kinds of tasks that someone engages in, and I like to start from the different outcomes and figure out what's required.For example, in my last job we had a set of policy documents related to pension administration. If I think of those as being in a searchable database, then I can imagine a couple of different tasks (which might not match yours, obviously):
- How do I create my search? You mention predetermined words -- are they in a drop-down list? A set of objects I can drag?
- Can I save or reuse a search? Can I modify one I've saved?
- How do I navigate the results of a search? Can I open one result then jump immediately to the next, or do I have to go back? Can I look at a list of results and refine it (to narrow it down)? Can I redo my original search from that result screen, or do I have to go elsewhere?
- What can I do with the specific result, such as one or more documents? Can I save them (not the search terms, but the results)? Can I print them? Forward them?
Depending on the detail, you've got maybe three parts (create including save; navigate; work with results). That could be one job aid, or three. If it were one, maybe the first part or page would be a link to each of the subparts.
Since I assume you don't know exactly what a person will be searching for, the search section might have explanations and simple examples.
- To search for all documents with governance :: Click GOVERNANCE
- For all contracts related to services :: Click CONTRACTS and SERVICES
- For hiring procedures except for IT :: Click HIRING, PROCEDURES; hold CTRL, click X and IT
...Just some notions to get you started.
I design system trng with sims and so on, but lately, the request has been for job aids. These are basic to the point and in a table layout. I added bookmarks to skip steps but left out the links to other documents due to the nature of the change beast right now. I also created a storyline file where they could hover over the areas of the screen they didn't understand and it provided an explanation.
More often than not, they are seldom used. You can have it easily available, specific, clear, and even interactive and if it gets a 10% hit rate you're happy.
Don't overthink it and go with what works best for your client's situation. :)
