Designing Procedures that Work
People often experience difficulties when trying to accomplish a procedural task such as formatting a text, assembling a cupboard, or preparing a dish. Part of their problem stems from lack of high quality instructions. In this talk I will introduce a model for constructing use- and user-centered instructions. The guidelines drawn from this model can help improve the design of instructions. Their application will be illustrated across tasks and media such as paper, online help and video.
Meet the Presenter
Hans van der Meij is senior researcher and lecturer in instructional technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. His research interests are questioning, technical documentation (e.g., instructional design, minimalism, self-study materials, video), and the functional integration of ICT in education. He received awards from the American Society for Technical Communication (STC) and from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE ) for papers on technical documentation, including a ‘landmark paper’ award by IEEE for a publication on minimalism (with John Carroll). The two most recent awards concern papers on designing instructional videos.