Job Aid

Definition

Job Aid (a.k.a., Job Performance Aid): a short, simple, and inexpensive document that helps the users to more effectively use a system or application

The typical objectives of job aids are to:

Provide a quick reference guide.
Improve user job performance by guiding, facilitating, or reminding the users in their accomplishment of job tasks

The typical benefits of job aids include:

The typical contents of job aids include:

The typical stakeholders of job aids include:

Producers:
- User Support Team
- User Experience Team
Evaluators:
- Deployment Inspection Team
Approvers:
Maintainers:
- User Support Team
Users:
- The user uses the job aids to improve their use of the application.

Job aids can typically be started if the following preconditions hold:

The construction phase is started.
The user Support team has been adequately staffed and trained in user support materials production.
The human interface design document has been largely completed.

Job aids typically has the following inputs:

Work Products:
- System Requirments Specification (use case model)
- Human Interface Design Document
Stakeholders:

Job aids are probably useful and cost-effective when:
- Training is not practical:
  - The task is too simple to warrent training.
  - The frequency of the task is low.
  - The job’s steps changes frequently.
  - There insufficient time or funds to support training.
- The negative consequences of user errors is high.
- There is high user turnover.
- it becomes necessary to access vast or changing bodies of knowledge.
Job aids may not be appropriate when:
- Users have significant training and experience.
- The frequency of job performance is high.
- The negative consequences of user errors is low.
- Novel situations predominate.
The primary purpose of a job aids is not to teach, but rather to act as a substitute for learning. User learning occurs via job performance.

Job aids are typically constrained by the following conventions: