AlphatrackDeviceActivationFieldGuide

Project
ThejobaidenclosedperformsaseriesofstepsthatallowstheusertoaddaGPSdevice
intothedigitalinventorysystemforAlphatrack.Thisprocessenablesthedevicetobecome
activatedwithinthesoftwaresystem.
PerformanceGap
Thefrontendanalysisofemployeeperformancedeterminedaninordinateamountof
timeisspentexplainingtoindividualemployeesinremotelocationshowtoactivateandmanage
GPSdevicesforclientslocatednationally.GPSdeviceactivationandmanagementarehard
skillsthatdonotvaryinimplementation.Thisgapinknowledgeanddiscontinuityindata
enteredintheonlineplatformlengthensactivationtime(affectingclientsatisfaction),uses
excessSMEhoursinexplanationtomultipleindividuals(affectingbusiness),andcrowdsthe
managementplatformwithancillarydatathatisnotrequiredforoperation.
Revisions
DevelopmentTeamRevisions
Theoriginalproceduraltextproducedincollaborationwiththeclientwasfocusedon
detailedtrainingforanemployeewithlittleornopriorexperiencewiththesoftwaresystemor
device.Theoriginalproceduredocumentwasinexcessoftwopagesinlength.Teammembers
refinedthetexttofocusonthepredeterminedtargetaudienceofemployeeswhohadprior
trainingontheprocedure.

Imagesandgraphicalrepresentationsofthedevicesandkeycomponentsoftheprocedure
werenotincludedinthetrainingmaterialsprovidedbytheclient.Thelayoutanddesignwere
createdinitiallywithouttheseimages.Uponfurtherreflectionitwasdeterminedvisualaids
wouldbemoreeffectivethantextinconveyingcontent.Theimageswerecreatedandthejobaid
layoutwasredesignedinordertoaccommodatetheassets.
Colorwasusedtocorrelatedifferentsubstepstoadjacentimages.Intheoriginaldesign,
emphasiswasaddedviaavarietyofmethodsdeterminedbyimagecharacteristics.Someofthe
considerationsincluded:
Isthereroombetweentextualcomponentsforaboundingboxorhighlight?
Cananarrowbedesignedtoshowsequencegraphically?
Cananarrowbeusedtoshowemphasis?
Duetothelimitationsofthedesignsoftware,manyoftheelementsdesiredforemphasiscould
notbeappliedeffectively.Acombinationofsimpleunderlinesandcolorcorrelationwere
determinedtobethemosteffectiveapproachtomaintainconsistency.
ClientRequestedRevisions
Clientfeedbackwassolicitedaftertheinitialdraftofthejobaidwasproduced.Subject
matterexpertspointedoutterminologyerrorsandminorincorrectproceduralreferences.
Additionalclaritywasreceivedregardingtheperformanceofthesoftwareuserinterface.
Overall,feedbackwaspositiveanddidnotrequiremajorchangestotheoverallfoundationofthe
jobaiddesign.Clientcommentsarelistedbelow,followedbydevelopmentteamdeterminations
andactionsinitalics.
GlobalRecommendations

 Changingtitlesorstepsforeachtaskwouldhelpclarificationforanyoneneeding
toreferencethestepsofthejobaid.Step1ofStep1ismoreconfusingthanletter
a.ofStep1,orTask1.Notsureofthebestwaytoremedythis.(changedcolor
andsizeofsectionheaderaddedboundingbox)
Happywithsimplicityofdesign
UnderStep1
Image:GreenboxonSIMcardshouldencompassall15numbersforclarity
(boundingboxadjusted)
Image:ShouldyellowtextusedtoidentifytheSIMcardmatchthegreentext
fromthesteplist?(determinedyellowtextwassignificanttodifferentiatebetween
devicecomponentsunchanged)
Step2:PathshouldreadSiteTools>ManageDeviceInventory>SimCard>
AddNewSIMCard(stepwascombinedintoStep1textcorrected)
UnderStep2
Step4:Model#shouldbechangedtoDeviceModel.Mightwanttomention
thatthisisadropdownprepopulatedmenu.(textchanged)
UnderStep3
Step3b:ChangeModel#toDeviceModel(textchanged)
Step3c:EntityTypesare:Individual,Vehicle,orAsset(textchanged)
Step3d:TheAssetNamewillchangetocorrespondwiththeentityselectedin
step3c.IfAssetisselected,thisfieldwillbetitledAssetName,ifVehicleis
selected,thisfieldwillbetitledVehicleName(textchanged)

TestingMethodology
TheAlphatrackjobaidwillbeevaluatedusingtwomethods.Aformativeevaluationhas
beenconductedtoverifyprocess,content,validityandusability.Asummativeevaluationwill
beconductedatafuturedatetoensurethejobaidpositivelyimpactsemployeeperformanceand
businessobjectives.
FormativeEvaluation.
Aformativeevaluationofthejobaidwasconductedthroughoutthedesigncycle.
Evaluationwasconductedbythedevelopmentteam,andbyemployeesofAlphaResearchto
ensurevalidityincontent,assesstheappropriatenessofdesign,anddeterminewhethertheaid
metexpectations.
Developmentteamtesting.Testingandevaluationwasconductedoneachdraftofthe
jobaidbythedevelopmentteamtodeterminetaskaccuracy,fluency,consistencyofdesignand
completenessthroughoutthedesignofthejobaid.Commentsandeditswereaddressedand
resolvedbyallteammembersbeforeimplementation.
Clientfeedback.Clientfeedbackonanearlydraftoftheaidwasprimarilyrelatedto
nomenclatureandimageclarification.Information,comments,andsuggestededitswere
implementedbasedonthepreferencesandknowledgeoftheclientandsubjectmatterexperts.
Theclientconfirmedvalidityandcontentsequenceinthefinaldraftofthedocument.
SummativeEvaluation.
Asummativeevaluationofthejobaidwillbeconductedafteraperiodofsixweeksto
determinetheeffectivenessofthejobaid.Thisevaluationwilltakeplaceundertheguidanceof
Kirkpatricksfourlevels,asreferencedbelow(Willmore,2006).

Level1:Doperformerslikethejobaid?Level1determinesthejobaidmeetsor
exceedsminimumacceptablelevelsofprofessionalismandclarity.
Level2:Whatdegreeofskillwillthejobaidenhanceintheemployee?Thejobaidis
providedtoensurethatemployeesarebetterequippedtoactivateGPSdevicesusingthe
Alphatrackonlineplatform.Theskillsaretaughtuponhiring,availabletolookupintheusers
manual,andareconsideredtobehardorunchanging.Thejobaidisexpectedtominimizethe
needofemployeestoreferencemanualsandcontactSMEs.ALevel2evaluationappliesloosely
tothejobaidastheintentionistoenhanceaskillratherthanconfirmlearning.
Level3:HaveemployeesofAlphaResearchperformedbetterasaresultofthejob
aid?TheinitialdeliveryoftheAlphatrackjobaidtoAlphaResearchisscheduledforDecember
2,2014.Level3evaluationwillbeconductedbycomparingemployeeperformancebeforeand
afterimplementation.Periodiccontactwillbemaintainedonamonthlybasisinorderto
determineifthebelowissuesareremediedorimproved.
Hasthejobaiddecreaseddeviceactivationtime?Ifso,byhowmuch?
*Previously1week/5workingdays
DoemployeescontactSMEsforinstructions?Ifso,howoften?
*Previously2xperweek
Hastherebeenanimprovementinthecontinuityofinformationenteredintothe
onlineplatform?
*SMEpreviouslycorrectinginformationonaweeklybasis
Howoftenhasdeviceactivationfailed?
*Previously2xperweek

Level4:HowhasthejobaidimpactedbusinessforAlphaResearch?Duetothe
projectdeliveryschedulementionedinLevel3alongtermevaluationofimpactisunavailableat
thetimeofthisreport.Periodiccontactwillbemaintainedonamonthlybasisinorderto
determineifthejobaidhashadapositiveimpactonbusinessoperationsforAlphaResearch
(Willmore,2006).
HaveSMEsnotedthejobaidreducingtheirinvolvementwithactivationissues?
Haveclientsexpressedsatisfactionwiththedeviceactivationprocess/speed?
DoesAlphaResearchfeelthejobaidhasimpactedemployeeandcustomer
retention?
LessonsLearned
Definingterminologywiththeclientiskey.Withinthesamecompany,differentjargon
canbeusedindifferentformats(forexample,fieldworkasopposedtotrainingmanuals).The
termModeltoreferencetheDeviceModelwasonesuchexample.Thesoftwareinterface
titlesatextboxModelasaninputfieldwhiletheclientreferstotheinformationtobeentered
astheDeviceModelintheirtrainingandinstitutionallanguage.
Designofthejobaidwasrestrainedbythelimitsofthecollaborativesoftware
(Lucidpress)chosentocreatethedocument.LucidpressintegrateswithGoogleDocsandwas
usefulforcollaboratingwiththeclientbecauseitallowedtheclienttocommentdirectlywithin
designdocument.Thesoftwarealsoallowedrealtimecollaborationbetweenteammembers
duringvideochatmeetingstofinetunethedesign.Allteammemberscouldviewandobserve
changestoevaluatetheirimpact.Whileteamandclientinputwasvaluable,inhindsightithas
beendeterminedthatamoreeffectivewaytomanagethegraphicdesignprocesswouldbeto

designateasingleartistwhowouldimplementteamfeedbackonamorerobustsoftwareprogram
withadvancedcapabilities.SeveraldesignchoicesweredrivenbythelimitationsofLucidpress
ratherthantheeffectivenessofthegraphicalpresentation.Forexample,textboxeswere
underlinedincolorwithintheimagesofthesoftwareuserinterface,becauseothermore
preferredmethodsofemphasiswereunavailable(highlight,smalldirectionalarrows,etc.).
Thequalityofclientprovidedgraphicassetsalsoaffectedthedesignandlayoutofthejob
aid.Digitalimagemanipulationsoftwarewasusedtomakeadjustmentstomitigatetheimpactof
lowimageresolution,poorwhitebalance,andunbalancedhorizonlinesonthedesign.When
suchissueswereunabletoberesolvedthroughimagemanipulation,thejobaiddesignwas
alteredtoaccommodatethelimitationsofthegraphics.Settingadateearlyoninthedesign
processfortheacquisitionofgraphicalassetscanprovideanopportunitytoreviewtheprovided
assetsandrequestreplacementsasneededpriortothefinaldraftofthejobaid.Alternatively,
assetcriteriaforprovidedelementscanbeprovidedtotheclientaspartofthedevelopment
requirements.
TeamTasking
TeamMember
Colleen

Score

IndividualTasksPerformed

10/10 Wroteoriginalprocessofhowtoaddadeviceintoinventory

TimeSpent
5.5hours

usingtheAlphaTracksoftware,conductedpracticaltestsof
jobaid,wrote55%ofjobaiddocument,liaisontoclientand
SMEs,contributedtoweeklycollaborative
videoconferences.
Elizabeth

10/10 Editedusablelanguageforjobaiddesign,editedjobaid,

5.5hours

sharedfeedbackforeditingrevisions,wrote25%ofjobaid
document,participatedinweeklycollaborative
videoconferences,copyeditedalldocumentation.
Lisa

10/10 DesignedandcreatedjobaidlayoutinLucidpress,editedand 5.5hours

enhancedgraphicsprovidedbyclient,managedgraphic
revisions,wrote5%ofoutlineforjobaiddocument,
participatedinweeklycollaborativevideoconferences.

Jenna

10/10 Contributedtoweeklycollaborativevideoconferences,

5.5hours

compactedprocessintousablelanguagetobeadaptedfor
originaldesign,editedoriginaljobaid,wrote20%ofjobaid
document.ResponsibleforsubmittingallworktoiLearn.

References

Willmore,J.(2006).Jobaidsbasics.AmericanSocietyforTrainingandDevelopment,117124