Glossary · 4 · Instructions and action
Job aid
Also known as: Performance aid, Performance support tool
German: Arbeitshilfe
In human performance technology and technical communication, a job aid is a tool that stores information outside the user's memory and provides it at the point of work, during the task, such as a checklist, a quick reference card, a decision table, a flowchart or a label on equipment.
- Applied cognitive psychology
- Instructions and action
In one sentence
A job aid stores information outside memory and provides it at the point of work, e.g. a checklist, quick reference card, decision table or label.
Example
Next to the labeler, a laminated card shows the five settings for each label size and a decision table for the three most common faults; operators no longer have to remember them or fetch the manual.
Rests on
- Working memory and Long-term memory: information that is rarely used, complex or must be exact (values, sequences) is better held in the world than in the head.
- Recognition and recall: a job aid replaces recall with recognition.
- Prospective memory: remembering to do something at the right moment is fragile; a cue in the environment helps.
How it applies
- Forms: Checklists, step cards, decision tables, flowcharts, worksheets, labels and markings on the machine, HMI help at the fault message.
- When to use one: A task analysis shows tasks that are infrequent, complex, error-prone or have serious consequences, and where the worker can consult the aid while working.
- Machinery documentation: Quick reference cards for setup and changeover, lubrication charts, fault tables at the station. They derive from the instructions and must match their current version.
Job aid vs. training vs. instructions for use
- Training changes what people know and can do; a job aid supports them during the task without requiring them to remember.
- Instructions for use are the complete information the manufacturer provides with the product; a job aid is an extract for one task or situation. It never replaces the instructions or the safety information they contain.
Limits
- A job aid helps only if it is at hand when needed, current and matched to the task; outdated cards cause errors.
- Extracts must not drop the warnings that apply to the steps they contain.