WALK-THRU GUIDES
Have you ever struggled when trying to learn how to use a new business system? Perhaps you have been bombarded by in-person training, job aids, how-to videos, and other learning resources. However, how about experience learning right when you need it? This is the logic behind system performance support tools. These in-app, just-in-time, walk-through guides are step-by-step learning tools that help the learner to perform tasks directly in the new system.
In this case, I have used the free version of the GuideMe tool to create a simple walkthrough guide on the back-end of the Wix portal. There are other well-known vendors in this area, such as WalkMe or Toonimo. Instructional designers can work with business system owners to create workflows of the most commonly performed tasks in the system. These step-by-step guides can be triggered directly in the system or can be overlaid on top of the system.
The primary learning principle behind these performance support technologies is to provide help at the right place and at the right moment. Instead of having offline learning solutions, users can find the support they need when performing different tasks on the live system. This guarantees a total transfer of knowledge from the learning experience to the performance context, which is a core idea of every instructional tool.
Additionally, these tools are interactive. Users walk-thru different learning paths and access other relevant information. In this sense, other learning resources such as links or embedded videos can be incorporated into the guides.
Most of these tools are based on browser extensions (such as Internet Explorer or Chrome), so they do not need any special installation packages.
Using these tools helped me gain more experience in implementing performance support technologies, especially for Infomation Technology (IT) related projects. In order to develop a solid step-by-step guide, instructional designers need to work closely with IT teams, so they can understand how the system works and design and develop the guides accordingly.
In this sense, it is critical to devote extra time to designing the steps, the workflow, and the content of each step. The process behind the guide must be clear to produce reliable instructions. Put yourself in your target audience's shoes before creating the guides!