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We structure job aids (quick references)

People use documentation, guidelines, checklists, protocols, and references—information that is directed at helping them complete specific tasks.

People in the workplace need functional documents to help them carry out their day-to-day activities on the job. Job aids are functional documents. They are communication products that are built specifically to help people use information.

What are job aids?

Job aids (and quick-reference guides) store and make accessible information, processes, or perspectives so users can complete specific tasks. They specify how to get a job done and act as memory-joggers—giving trained people permission to forget.

Job aids help people manage vast quantities of information. They often consist of steps, worksheets, lists, decision tables, maps and illustrations that help people do their work. Most text can be summarized in job aids.

We create job aids to help users

We follow a user-focused process to understand who the users are and what they are going to be doing with the information. Our job as information architects is to help them do this as quickly and easily as possible.

Info.Design thinks like "user advocates." We ask specific questions such as these:

• Will users benefit from using the job aid (save money, time, make jobs easier or more accurate)?
• Does the job aid specify the knowledge or tools the user needs to know to use the job aid?
• Can the document be organized in a task-oriented structure?
• Are sentences and visuals clear and uncluttered?
• Can the user complete one step or element in the job aid without consulting the paper more than once?

Organizations benefit by reducing the need for training (and saving time and money as a result). Employees benefit because they were able to transfer their skills from the classroom to the work site.

To find out how Info.Design can structure information for your organization, e-mail thom@thomhaller.com.