Reduce Tech-Support Requests with Cheat Sheets

If you're like many nonprofit technology staffers, your time is at a premium, leaving you precious few minutes to provide colleagues with one-on-one support or to answer the same software questions again and again. Nevertheless, the help requests and questions are likely to keep coming, and it's your job to address them.

But what if there were a way to give your users effective technical support without an excessive drain on your time? When human resources are stretched thin but the pile of tech-support requests is thick, something called a "job aid" can really come to your rescue.

In the broadest definition, a job aid (also called a cheat sheet, a how-to guide, or a quick-reference guide) is a resource that helps people get work done by providing them with the information they need to perform a specific task. In whatever form or by whatever name, a good technology job aid can help to improve productivity, build user confidence, and reduce errors.

A job aid can also supplement training or in some instances be an alternative to formal training. It can also serve as a memory jog when the task at hand is performed infrequently. Job aids typically support users by providing one, or any combination of, the following types of information:

As an instructional designer and a technology user, I'm a big fan of job aids. Through the years, I've created and used many, from polished, full-color multi-page pieces to one-page "quick-and-dirty" documents. I've seen firsthand how job aids can save you the time and headaches of providing personalized tech support; they can also help your colleagues become more productive.

Providing your organization's users with a core set of helpful job aids will require some effort, but it won't necessarily require you to hire a consultant — unless, of course, you have a large, complex, and well-funded technology project. If you invest a little time and conduct the proper research, you can create or repurpose useful job aids that will help your staffers complete important office tasks with a minimal amount of hand-holding. Below are 15 tips from professional instructional designers, which your organization can use to create effective job aids for even the most inexperienced user.

1. Do Your Detective Work: Perform a Needs Analysis

Investigating your users' needs is a critical aspect of creating job aids and can't be emphasized enough. Many of us — including training professionals — have wasted time and resources by launching into projects before finding out what our users really need.

On this point, Barbara Bray, professional technology coach, president of Computer Strategies, and founder of My eCoach learning community confesses, "I have developed quick-start tutorials on programs that I like, only to find I was the only one who requested it."

Before you get started creating a job aid, survey or interview your audience and management. Look for skills or knowledge gaps between what users are able to do and what they need to be able to do. Based on your research, identify problems at your organization that job aids can solve

During your analysis you may get a few requests unique to a single respondent; but if you interview enough people, you will start to hear common themes, like "That database function is so confusing" or "I can't figure out how to use that scanner." If this happens, probe a little deeper to find out what about the function your audience finds difficult. Assess the skill level of respondents to determine if they are beginning, intermediate, or advanced users; this will give you an idea of how much information they need to get the job done.

If your nonprofit's users are struggling to learn a complicated procedure — or one that requires speed and accuracy — you will most likely need to set up some type of training session. If so, a job aid probably won't be sufficient in and of itself, though it can still be a useful classroom aid and can help users transfer their skills to the job.

2. Don't Reinvent the Wheel: Repurpose Whenever Possible

Before you take the time to create a new job aid, always look for existing resources that meet your organization's needs.

For example, if you've determined that your users need help creating charts in Excel, you might check Excel's Help files; perform a Web search on the terms "Excel charts"; or look in hard-copy documentation (such as the "For Dummies" series of books) for a page or two you can photocopy and distribute. However, if you'd like to repurpose copyrighted material, make sure to research what you can and cannot do when distributing it.

You might also keep an eye out for job aids that come packaged with software or are available on the vendor's Web site. However, if your users need to accomplish a task unique to your organization or work with specially built software, a customized job aid may be the most effective solution.

3. Think Like a Beginner: Analyze the Task

You don't need to be a Zen monk to approach task analysis with an open and curious mind. Think like a complete beginner. This is especially important if you are creating a job aid on a task or application that you yourself have mastered. Ask yourself: What does a novice need to know to get this task done? If you are writing a procedural job aid, sit at the computer or hardware device, walk through the task, and document each step carefully. Do not skips steps or assume that your users know shortcuts. If there are multiple subtasks, organize and group your content into a logical sequence.

4. Less Is More: Keep Designs Simple and Short

Always select the most essential, "need-to-know" information for the user, and omit the "nice-to-know" information — even if you think the "nice-to-know" content is cool. Begin with basic information and move progressively into more complex subjects. "Prioritize your topics or tasks so they ‘scaffold,' or build upon the skills that users have already learned," advised Bray. When designing your job aid, you should also consider whether the document will be distributed in hard-copy form or posted on the Internet.

A discussion of task analysis and job-aid design would not be complete without reference to information mapping, an approach to breaking down complex information. Since its introduction more than 25 years ago, information mapping has had a big impact on the fields of both instructional design and Web design. If you're interested in learning more about information mapping, check out these research notes (PDF) from Namahn, a design consulting firm, located in Brussels, Belgium.

5. Pictures and Symbols Are Worth a Thousand Words

Many people find that it's easier and quicker to learn about unfamiliar technologies by looking at pictures rather than reading words. So whenever possible, include visuals with your text to illustrate a task or function. You may also find it useful to include arrows, highlights, or boxes for emphasis — just take care not to overwhelm your users with too many graphics

When appropriate, you may also want to take screenshots of software functions and include them in your job aid. To capture a screenshot on a computer running on a Windows operating system, locate the document or application window you wish to capture and press Alt+Print Screen. (With some keyboards, you may need to press Fn+Print Screen or some other key combination.) Then open Microsoft Paint by going to Start > Programs > Accessories > Paint. Paste the screenshot into Paint by pressing Ctrl+V, then choose a file format by browsing to File > Save As.

To capture a screenshot on a computer running a Mac operating system, Press Shift > Apple> 4 to bring up a crosshair that you can position and stretch over the desired area of your screen. When you let go of the mouse, you'll find a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file on your desktop that can be opened in an image-editing application or imported into a word-processing document. Make sure your images are at least 150 dots per inch (DPI) if your job aids are to be printed as hard copies, 72 to 75 pixels per inch (PPI) if they will be used exclusively online.

The sample job aid attached to this article is an example of an effective use of screenshots and pictures. A word of caution: Unless you have a graphic designer on staff and a budget for color printing, your job aid will probably not look like this sample. But don't fret, because even a simple, well-written, and instructionally sound job aid can be powerful and effective.

6. Ergo You Go ...

Have you ever purchased a new piece of hardware or software and struggled to read the six-point type in the setup guide? Don't force your users to strain to read your online or hard-copy job aids; treat your audience with courtesy by designing content that can be read and understood easily without a magnifying glass.

If you're designing a hard-copy job aid, take care to design it in a format and size that can be handled easily and that fits well on the user's desk or on the side of his or her computer. Walk around your organization's office and observe how people use tools, papers, and other productivity aids at their desks.

7. The First Draft: Focus Information and Choose Words Carefully

After completing the analysis and settling on a design, it's time to write the first draft of your job aid. Remember not to overwhelm your audience with too much information; job aids can be very powerful when they hone in on core tasks or information. Thick manuals or user guides may look impressive, but they often go untouched after a training session or distribution.

When crafting your job aid, use simple language and write in the active voice. Begin each step-by-step instruction with an action verb, such as "go," "click," or "press." Take care to avoid technical jargon or too many acronyms. If you have to use a technical term, define it as soon as you use it. It's also a good idea to spell out a term in its entirety before using its acronym — and then feel free to use the acronym alone for later references. You might also want to preface the job aid with a short overview paragraph that sets the context for the information that the user is about to read.

8. Use Catchy or Playful Titles

Why use a boring title such as "How to Create Charts in Excel" when you can create a title that captures the imagination of your users? To spice up her job aids, Bray likes to use catchy titles.

"Let's say the topic is spreadsheets," explained Bray. "One of the titles I used was 'Meet Me at A and 25th.' When describing how to navigate worksheets, I named it ‘Where in the World is...?'"

9. The Second Draft: Read, Review, and Revise

Upon completion of your first draft, read it carefully (preferably on paper), keeping an eye out for logical structure, factual inaccuracies, stylistic inconsistency, grammatical errors, flow, and spelling or typographical errors. After you've done an initial read-through, ask someone else — perhaps your manager — to review your draft. If you are creating a job aid for a custom system or process, ask an internal expert to review your draft.

Once all reviewers have made their comments and suggestions, make changes accordingly. If your second-draft changes are extensive or your job-aid content is sensitive, you may want to run your job aid through another review cycle.

10. The Final Draft: Ready, Set, Test!

Professional instructional designers agree that testing is essential before handing your job aid over to your organization's users. Ask someone from your audience to use the job aid to perform the task it documents while you observe. Ask questions when he or she is done, making notes about what worked and what didn't.

Instructional design consultant Laura Russo believes that testing is critical when finalizing a job aid. "I don't think there was ever a time I didn't learn something during testing to improve the job aid," said Russo. "There are always issues that you don't anticipate, and only through testing can you catch them."

The final step before producing or posting the job aid is to use your test results to revise and improve its content.

11. Market to Your Audience

When rolling out your cool, new offering, create some excitement! It may be beneficial to find creative ways to attract attention to your work, especially if the job aid is one that warrants high visibility.

When I worked for a nonprofit in San Francisco, I organized a brown-bag lunch — with free cookies — to introduce a job aid on our new learning-management system. Nearly everyone at the organization attended, and many staff members began using the job aid right away, which immediately cut down on interruptions to my work.

If you distribute your new job aid as an email attachment, include a snappy subject line and pitch your job aid in an upbeat and appealing way. Otherwise, folks may ignore your email, and all your hard work may go to waste.

12. Create Templates or Standard Formats

After you've created a few job aids, you'll get a better feel for what works and what your users like. Using this feedback, you may wish to create standard templates to streamline the process of making future job aids and to help you teach others how to create effective job aids. Templates may include formatting elements — such as standard headings, type, and paragraph styles — as well as boilerplate content applicable to a variety of document types.

13. Keep 'Em Up-to-Date

Over time, you will observe which of your job aids users keep, reference, and share with new hires. These "keepers" can become treasured objects, despite dog-ears, fingerprints, and coffee stains. Although a standard office task may not change, department or budget codes may change or new steps may be required to comply with the latest version of a piece of software. In order to keep your job aids relevant, you may wish to periodically review and update them.

Russo recalled that a client recently showed her a flipbook-style job and asked her to create a similar document. "I made that 15 years ago!" Russo exclaimed. The job aid had been so successful that the company had kept it up-to-date, adding new codes and functions over the years. Needless to say, Russo was delighted to see the lasting impact of her work.

14. Name and Number Files Logically for Future Reference

If your job aid is a hit, you may need to make more copies, update it, or use it as a template. To make it easier to locate job aids months — or even years — down the road, Bray recommends creating a logical file-numbering scheme that incorporates details such as category code, job aid number, and production date.

15. Collect Them All!

Once you start thinking about and creating job aids, you'll begin to find them everywhere you go. Russo says that collecting and critiquing examples you encounter in daily life can help you create better job aids yourself.

When examining other job aids, note what you like about them and what does or doesn't work. Keep the ones that you like as models. "I have a box of models that I like — ones that are unique," Russo said of her collection of "found" job aids. "I've been doing this since 1978 and I still see things that I'm impressed by."

Even items seen in magazines can be a source of inspiration. "The other day I saw something in Real Simple magazine," Russo stated. "It was a weird way to chart information — a combo of many things I already knew but had never thought of putting together. I was working on something complicated for a client and when I saw the magazine I thought, ‘Wow, this [format] would work perfectly!'"

Creating job aids can save nonprofit technology workers time and money, and get vital procedures down on paper or the Web for all to share. Though job aids, alas, won't actually do the work for you or your users, they can help raise levels and consistency of performance and ultimately contribute — in some small or large way — to the effectiveness and impact of your organization.

Job-Aid Resources:

• San Diego State University Educational Technology Program article on job aids
• "How to Develop Effective Job Aids for Non-Instructional Designers" (PDF) article from eShow 2000
• Quality Assurance Project's 2001 Symposium on job aids

Additional Information Contributed By:

• Barbara Bray, President of Computer Strategies and founder of My eCoach.
• Laura Russo, Instructional Design Consultant.