Granting Three Wishes through PerformanceCentered Design.docVIP

CBT/EPSS - Formación asistida por computadora/Ayudas electrónicas Granting Three Wishes through Performance-Centered Designby Gloria Gery The genie appeared when the monitor was rubbed. I’ll grant you three wishes, Ms. Manager. What will they be? The manager thought hard and decided, Why not go for broke and ask for my real software fantasies: Wish #1: I wish I could just bring people onto the job, sit them down and have them start being productive on day one. Wish #2: I wish I didn’t have to staff with one person to support three people answering questions about the work itself or helping people use related software. Wish #3: I wish anyone could perform as an expert so best practice is a way of life here, rather than the occasional ‘star’ performance. Genie: That’s it? Nothing difficult? Those can be granted with a simple twist. Manager: A twist? I don’t get it. These things don’t seem to be simple at all. I keep asking for these outcomes, but we don’t seem to understand what it takes to do it. We have user-interface standards that require Windows compliance. We even do usability testing. But we still have huge learning curves, support costs and frustrated users. What’s your twist? I don’t want to hear of another innovative catch phrase… I want something practical, affordable and high impact. Genie: The twist is to change a few simple things: Your goals for the system Your assumptions about the users Who is involved in the design process and when they are involved Usability test participants If you do what I command, you’ll have your wishes without any magic at all, much to my dismay. And it won’t cost you more than a traditional software design – and will cost a lot less than the traditional implementation because much of the cost of training and support will be eliminated. As a matter of fact, a more powerful benefit will occur: time to performance will be virtually immediate and all of the hoped-for benefits of the system will be achieved. Manager: Too good